Taroom Trough: Bigger than Texas?

Taroom Trough: Bigger than Texas?

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Thursday, 28 May 2026

Description
Individual Ticket
Time
11:15 AM - 1:30 PM
28/05/2026 11:15 AM

Taroom Trough: Bigger than Texas?

 

The State Government is vowing to fast track approvals to tap into a potential ocean of oil beneath the Southern Downs.

Explorers are still testing and crunching the numbers but it could be bigger than Texas. 

Speaker Biographies

 

Honourable Dale Last MP

Minister for Natural Resources and Mines

Minister for Manufacturing

Minister for Regional and Rural Development
 

Dale Last is the Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Minister for Manufacturing and Minister for Regional and Rural Development.

Born and raised in country Queensland, Dale has dedicated his career to serving regional communities. Dale joined the Queensland Police Service in 1981 and was awarded the National Police Medal in 1988 for diligent long service to the community. He was appointed Officer in Charge of Townsville Police Station in 2000, leading frontline law enforcement in Queensland’s largest regional centre. Following his service in the Queensland Police Service, Dale was elected to Townsville City Council, where he served as both Councillor and Deputy Mayor. In 2015, he was elected to the Queensland Parliament as the Member for Burdekin.

Dale is a fierce advocate for regional communities and rural development. His electorate of Burdekin is home to major resources projects and key transport infrastructure, including numerous mines and the Port of Abbot Point.

Dale lives on a small farm at Alligator Creek with his wife, two of his children and a menagerie including two horses and a pet pig called Honey.

             
 

Trevor Brown

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Omega Oil and Gas
 

Trevor is a petroleum geologist with 40 years of experience across Australia, Southeast Asia, and the USA.

He held senior exploration roles at Woodside and Unocal then spent 15 years at Santos as VP Exploration and New Ventures and VP Queensland including leading the $25bn GLNG Project.

Trevor commenced at Omega Oil and Gas in June 2023.

 

Gerard Coggan

Coordinator-General Office of the Coordinator-General
 

Gerard commenced as Queensland’s Coordinator-General in January 2024.

As a seasoned executive, Gerard has over 25 years’ experience within the private and public sectors, across infrastructure project management and consulting, with a demonstrated history of steering work through complex environmental sustainability and community engagement processes.

Gerard’s prior roles across the private and public sectors, have included General Manager at APA Group, Acting as the Deputy Director-General – Investment, Facilitation and Partnerships within the former Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning as well the Director and founding partner of a project management consultancy.

As Queensland’s Coordinator-General, he plays a critical role in leveraging significant, wide-ranging regulatory powers to plan, deliver and coordinate large-scale projects, while ensuring their environmental and social impacts are properly managed.

 

Matt Lang

Senior Vice President Global Business Development and Marketing, Halliburton
 

Matt Lang is Senior Vice President, Global Business Development and Marketing. In this role, Mr. Lang is responsible for all aspects of the Company’s global business development and marketing efforts. Previously, Lang served as Vice President of Cementing and Strategic Business Manager of Surface and Casing Equipment for Cementing, as well as Regional Manager for Asia Pacific for Cementing. Lang joined Halliburton in 2005 as an engineer in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and has since held various roles of increasing responsibility in operations in the Asia Pacific region.

In 2010 Matt was based in Brisbane Australia before being transferred to Perth in 2012 - 2014 Lang holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado. He is a 2018 graduate of the Halliburton President’s Leadership Excellence Program.

 

Matthew Loth

East Coast and PNG Country Manager SLB
 

An experienced energy industry leader with over 25 years of global experience across the upstream sector. Currently responsible for SLB’s operations across Eastern Australia and Papua New Guinea. Brings broad expertise in end to end project delivery across the full suite of upstream wellsite services, with deep operational experience in well testing, completions, subsea landing string operations, and the characterisation of unconventional and tight gas plays.

 

Krishna Venkatesan

Vice President, Shell QGC
 

Krishna Venkatesan has served as Head of Shell’s QGC business in Australia since July 2024, bringing more than 20 years of experience across the global energy industry. During his 13 years with the QGC business, Krishna has held a variety of technical and leadership roles, including General Manager Upstream and Asset Manager Midstream (QCLNG Plant). Throughout his career, Krishna has worked across Asia and Europe in a range of onshore and offshore technical roles, delivering projects spanning the United Kingdom, Egypt, Bolivia and India. He holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and a Master of Petroleum Engineering from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh.           

 

Moderator
Janette Hewson

Chief Executive Officer, Queensland Resources Council
 

Highly regarded industry leader, Janette Hewson, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Queensland Resources Council. Janette is a born and bred Queenslander with more than 25 years’ experience in resources at a senior executive level. Her past positions include Executive Vice President, Environment, Sustainability & Governance at Santos and senior positions with global resources companies South 32 and Peabody Energy.

Janette has served on the Climate Advisory Panel for the Minerals Council of Australia, and the Boards of the Queensland Resources Council, NSW Minerals Council and Low Emissions Technology Australia. She has a Bachelor of Laws degree from Queensland University of Technology, a Bachelor of Arts (Modern Asian Studies with a major in Japanese language) from Griffith University and is a former winner of Queensland’s Exceptional Woman in Resources award.

Event Partners


Partnership opportunities available - please contact Stuart Mansbridge to enquire [email protected]
When
28/05/2026 11:15 AM - 1:30 PM
AUS Eastern Standard Time
Where
voco Brisbane City Centre 85-87 North Quay BRISBANE, QLD 4000 AUSTRALIA
Registration
Registration is closed. Contact [email protected]
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