Activists have raised concerns over the WA environmental watchdog’s ongoing commitment to let the nation’s largest oil and gas project operate until 2070.

July 13, 2023

Western Australia’s environmental watchdog’s commitment to let the nation’s largest oil and gas project operate until 2070 has prompted calls for federal government intervention.

A leaked WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) document shows the regulator continues to back its recommendation that Woodside Energy’s licence to operate the North West Shelf development be extended until 2070.

The report, released to AAP on Thursday, was a response to one of 776 appeals lodged with the WA government against the EPA’s June 2022 advice to the environment minister about the project.

Activists are calling for the federal environment minister to step in and assess the North West Shelf project’s impacts and the risks of its continued operation in the Pilbara.

Jess Panegyres, head of clean energy transition at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said the project should be rejected, calling it a “climate disaster”.

“Woodside’s application to extend the operation of its ageing North West Shelf gas processing factory all the way through to 2070 undermines Australia’s climate progress,” she said.

“Australia has a legal commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and Woodside’s plans would see us exporting dirty gas well into the second half of the century.”

Ms Panegyres said the West Australian EPA had not taken the broader national interest into account when it made its decision.

“That job now falls to federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, who must conduct a full independent assessment of the full range of impacts of this toxic project,” she said.

Climate Analytics chief executive Bill Hare said the proposed extension until 20 years after the world was supposed to be at net-zero emissions was extraordinary.

“The EPA doesn’t seem to have accepted the science that is needed to get to one and a half degrees,” he said referring to the Paris Agreement global warming target.

“It seems to be in denial.”

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility said extending the project’s licence to operate at full capacity until 2070 could lead to the release of 3.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.

It may also pave the way for the opening of new gas basins, such as the Browse Project and the Canning Basin, carbon analyst Alex Hillman said.

The North West Shelf project produces more than one-third of Australia’s oil and gas production for domestic use and export.

The $34 billion joint venture between Woodside, BP, Chevron, Japan Australia LNG and Shell has been operating for 37 years and includes the Karratha Gas Plant and three offshore platforms.

The extension proposal is for the gas plant, which has been operating since 1984 on the rock art-rich Burrup Peninsula about 20km northwest of Karratha.

The EPA’s recommendation released last year included conditions related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and protecting Aboriginal rock art.

Woodside said the extension would allow existing gas resources to be developed without the need for constructing new processing facilities.

The company complies with regulatory requirements and environmental processes in seeking and receiving approvals for our projects, a spokeswoman said.

“We support the process being undertaken by the Environmental Protection Authority and await the outcome of the Appeals Convenor’s consideration.”

The appeals process ends on July 21.