Woodside Energy has dodged appeals against its North West Shelf project extension request, setting the scene for an imminent decision on the project by Environment Minister Murray Watt.
Woodside Energy has dodged appeals against its North West Shelf project extension request, setting the scene for a decision on the project by Environment Minister Murray Watt in the next week.
Requests for reconsideration of Woodside’s bid to extend the life of its existing North West Shelf project by 40 years were tabled to the government by the Conservation Council and Greenpeace Australia.
Those have been knocked back by Mr Watt, the new federal Environment Minister, who is set to hand down a decision on a request six years in the making by the end of this month.
A call was twice delayed by his predecessor Tanya Plibersek in the lead up to the May election.
The North West Shelf project exports LNG abroad and supplies around 14 per cent of WA’s domestic gas.
An extension approval from federal authorities would allow Woodside to continue to run its Karratha gas plant well into the future.
It could also help pave the way for the separate development of the Browse field, which Woodside hopes to one day tap into the Karratha gas plant.
The state government gave Woodside its environmental tick in December 2024, and has put pressure on the federal government to make an informed decision on the extension in the aftermath of the Albanese government’s thumping win.
Environmental groups, meanwhile, confronted Woodside management at the company’s May AGM to protest their concerns over environmental performance.
Greenpeace was among them.
In a statement this afternoon, Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s WA campaign lead Geoff Bice said the organisation was concerned for the future of the Scott Reef off the WA coast after its request was knocked back.
"The North West Shelf facility is one of Australia’s dirtiest and most polluting fossil fuel projects — the decision to refuse Greenpeace's reconsideration request brings Woodside one step closer towards drilling for dirty gas at Scott Reef,” he said.
“If we are serious about tackling climate pollution and protecting nature, we should be closing down polluting fossil fuel facilities when they come to their end of life, not extending them to allow for new gas fields to open.”
Mr Cook and Mr Watt met in Perth this week, with Woodside’s approval high on the agenda.
