The Queensland Government is getting into newer, deeper forms of gas and oil drilling, which could bring big risks for water supplies.

Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Andrew Cripps has released a framework document to pave the way for deep gas and oil exploration at the Cooper basin, in the south west of the state.

He says the framework is designed to guide the industry into more explorations and investigations of current reservoirs.

It is also intended to help investors understand the approval process, and to allow more local government and community input in that process.

But the processes required to access the new forms of oil and gas require huge amounts of water and also put water supplies at risk from spills and leaks.

Dr Bob Morrish, from the Cooper Creek Protection Group, has told the ABC that deep oil and gas mining appears more harmful to the environment than conventional forms.

“There'll be totally new and untried techniques, working out how to get deep shale gas, which will, by all accounts, require a lot of hydraulic fracturing,” Dr Morrish said.

“This type of deep oil and gas mining will require large volumes of water.

“One presumes that water will come from the aquifers of the Great Artesian Basin, so what protection do we have from loss or contamination of water?”

Projects near the Quilpie Shire produce about 1.5 million barrels of oil each year, and the regional council says it will support new mining forms in order to maintain economic strength.