Planned oil drilling in waters off Tasmania is feared to create havoc for the state's $150 million scallop industry and could result in an oil slick that would "envelop" King Island. International energy company Equinor this week released its draft environment plan for an exploration drilling program in the Great Australian Bight which it said concluded drilling could be done safely. The company's Australian representative Jone Stangeland said it would accept public comments before it submitted a final plan to the environmental regulator.  He said the paper identified all relevant risks even if they were considered unlikely. "By identifying every possible risk, we can better prepare for safe operations,” Mr Stangeland said.  Australia Institute state director Leanne Minshull said modelling in the plan did not provide comfort to residents, fishermen and other industries on King Island. "It shows that a major spill could envelop King Island, devastating local jobs and the ecology of surrounding areas,” she said. “Despite the oil well and the supposed profits being in South Australia, the potential damage to Tasmania is significant.” The modelling said there was a 2-per-cent chance of a high-risk oil spill. The probability of shoreline contact was predicted to be 68 per cent and the minimum days over which that would occur was estimated to be 54 days over a maximum length of 617 kilometres, under that high-risk scenario. The modelling showed 18 per cent of Tasmanian coastal waters were predicted to experience sea surface oil exposure at the moderate threshold in the unmitigated case of an oil spill which was predicted to last 44 days. This modelling was derived from 100 oil spill simulations. The Tasmanian Abalone Council by statement said it had taken note of modelling on the worst credible case of discharge.  "Such an event has the potential to severely damage a large proportion of a very valuable fishery worth well over $150 million annually to the state," it said.   "The reef areas in question are in remote areas making a clean-up extremely difficult with the potential for long-term effects to be felt for years after the event." Equinor's environmental plan said the Bass Strait oil industry had operated in coexistence with fishing for more than 50 years.