Australian government approves Woodside’s NWS project extension

Australia’s federal government on Friday finally decided to grant environmental approval for Woodside Energy’s North West Shelf project extension until 2070, a move welcomed by the operator and the nation’s leading industry body but simultaneously slammed by environmental lobby groups.

Woodside’s proposed Browse 11.4 million tonnes per annum liquefied natural gas megaproject sits at the heart of the sought extension, with the operator planning to drill 50 wells to exploit the Torosa, Calliance and Brecknock fields that have combined resources of some 20 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The Browse project’s produced gas is expected to flow via a 900-kilometre pipeline to be used as feedstock at the NWS LNG project in Karratha, Western Australia.

The Australian government’s NWS extension approval comes with 48 conditions includes ones that require additional monitoring and management of air emissions to protect the Dampier Archipelago (including the Burrup Peninsula) National Heritage Place.

Woodside chief operating officer Australia Liz Westcott said the final government approval followed an extensive assessment and appeal process and included rigorous conditions to manage the protection of cultural heritage.

“This final approval provides certainty for the ongoing operation of the North West Shelf project, so it can continue to provide reliable energy supplies as it has for more than 40 years,” she said.

“Over this time, the NWS project has paid more than A$40 billion (US$26.62 billion) in royalties and excise, supported thousands of Australian jobs and contributed well over A$300 million to communities in the Pilbara through social investment initiatives and infrastructure support.”

Woodside added it remains committed to protecting the Murujuga Cultural Landscape and was a proud supporter of the World Heritage nomination and assessment process. To date, the NWS project has supplied more than 6000 petajoules of domestic gas, powering homes and industry in Western Australia. If used just for household electricity, this is enough to power homes in a city the size of the state capital city Perth for approximately 175 years.

Industry association, Australian Energy Producers (AEP) said it welcomed the federal government’s approval of the North West Shelf extension, a decision that will safeguard reliable and affordable gas supply for Western Australians.

“The project’s extension is essential to avoid forecast gas shortfalls from 2030 and ensure reliable and affordable supply for households, businesses and manufacturers,” commented AEP chief executive Samantha McCulloch.

Natural gas provides more than half of WA’s primary energy needs and 60% of the state’s electricity, with the industry contributing A$35 billion annually to the state economy and supporting more than 73,000 jobs.

McCulloch added that after six years of state-based approvals and delays, Friday's decision provides much-needed clarity for industry and investors, reinforces and secures the state’s role as a global energy leader.

The project also supports Australia’s net zero pathway by ensuring reliable gas supply to back-up growing shares of renewables in power generation, while continuing to provide lower-emissions energy to major trading partners in Asia, noted the AEP.

However, environmental groups wasted no time in condemning the government’s green light — even with the conditions stipulated.

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said the Albanese government had detonated a NWS carbon bomb, claiming the conditions it has applied cannot curb the climate damage from “the largest fossil fuel project in the Southern Hemisphere”.

“The Albanese government’s progress on renewables at home is wiped out by its continued support to expand Australia’s gas exports,” said ACF climate programme manager Gavan McFadzean.

“The safeguard mechanism already requires major emitters to be net zero by 2050. This is not a new condition.”

“It beggars belief that the Albanese government would choose to detonate this carbon bomb.”

The Climate Media Centre said that the NWS extension paves the way for other “destructive” gas projects, such as the Browse proposal which entails drilling gas wells around Scott Reef, which is home to numerous threatened marine species.

David Ritter, chief executive at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, agreed: “Woodside’s plans to continue processing gas till 2070 and drill for gas at Scott Reef are grotesque.

“They risk the destruction of one of Australia’s largest freestanding oceanic coral reefs and would contribute to climate disaster. Today’s approval erodes the climate credibility of the Albanese government at a moment when it is already on thin ice.”