A decision not to prosecute a Beetaloo Basin oil and gas company for an alleged breach of environmental laws sets a low standard for the Northern Territory's environmental protections, according to a legal expert in the field.

Imperial Oil and Gas was found to have breached its Environment Management Plan (EMP) by drilling in the Beetaloo Basin in 2022, according to a report approved by the Department of Lands, Planning and Environment (DLPE) in April this year.

The DLPE found the company drilled the fracking well — dubbed Carpentaria-3H — without constructing an underground barrier between two major aquifers below, as required by its EMP.

Imperial is a subsidiary of Empire Energy, which changed its name to Beetaloo Energy this year.

The ABC has seen documents released to anti-fracking

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