Final approval for Woodside’s North West Shelf extension draws ire of Greens
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More news: The Albanese government’s decision to approve an extension of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project to 2070 has been described as “a betrayal” by the Australian Greens.
Greens leader Senator Larissa Waters said Australia’s environmental laws, “which allow the Environment Minister to sign off on projects that will make the climate crisis worse, are broken”.
“In a time where we have been living through a once-in-a-decade weather event almost every year, this approval will mean more intense floods, fires and species extinctions, plus more pollution each year than all of Australia’s coal stations combined,” Waters added.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific chief executive David Ritter said Woodside’s plan to continue gas processing until 2070 and to continue drilling for gas at Scott Reef “are grotesque”, particularly in the context of efforts to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
“As the Albanese government prepares its 2035 emissions reduction target, it must heed the best available science—which recommends a target of net zero by 2035,” Ritter added.
Samantha McCulloch, the chief executive of oil and gas industry group Australian Energy Producers, said the extension “is essential to avoid forecast gas shortfalls from 2030 and ensure reliable and affordable supply for households, businesses and manufacturers”.
She also stressed that Western Australian gas “strengthens” Australia’s role as a “reliable energy supplier” to the region.
The Australian Resources and Energy Employers Association chief executive Steve Knott also welcomed the decision. He said the project “sustains almost 900 direct employees and more than 1,000 contractors”.
Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project extension gets final approval
The news: Final environmental approval has been granted for Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project extension after the fossil fuel company agreed to 48 conditions imposed by federal Environment Minister Murray Watt that are intended to protect the Murujuga rock art.
The context: After a more than six year environmental assessment process, the lifespan of the project, located on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia, can now be extended from 2030 to 2070. Watt had granted preliminary approval to the project’s extension in late May.
Among the 48 environmental conditions imposed, Woodside must reduce “certain gas emissions below their current levels, in some cases by 60 percent by 2030 with ongoing reductions beyond that”, according to a statement from the federal Environment Minister.
Woodside will also be required to “comply with any air quality objectives and standards that are derived” from the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program.
This is part of a condition imposed by the Western Australian government, which approved the extension in December 2024, to develop a new Air Quality Management Plan.
Other conditions include management of “direct, physical impacts to the rock through the implementation of a Cultural Heritage Management Plan” and demonstrating emissions compliance by “publishing an annual compliance report including emissions data”.
The project is also obliged to reduce emissions annually and achieve net-zero by 2050 under the federal government’s Safeguard Mechanism.
In a statement, the fossil fuel giant said it remains committed to protecting the Murujuga cultural landscape.
What they said: “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,” Woodside executive vice president and chief operating officer Australia Liz Westcott said.
