Stavanger, Norway: Western Australia’s Regional Development Minister Stephen Dawson says the world is facing “crazy challenges” but told global oil and gas leaders that his state can help address them.

Addressing the ONS Conference in Stavanger, Norway, which is attended by Europe’s top gas and oil companies, Mr Dawson said WA would not be retreating from its ambition to be the first state to switch off coal use.

“Western Australia’s energy system is unique because, unlike many jurisdictions, we’re not connected to a national electricity grid; we’re responsible for managing our own electricity, our own reliability, but also our own resilience, and we cannot simply export electricity when demand increases,” he said.

“And so the Western Australian government has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and by retiring state-owned coal-fired power stations and generation by 2030.

“And so delivering on these commitments really does require a fundamental transformation of our electricity system and that really does need to be supported by renewable generation, by transmission investment, by energy storage and also by flexible gas generation.”

He said green hydrogen, which suffered a serious setback last year when its main champion in Australia, billionaire Andrew Forrest, abandoned his flagship projects, was still poised to help replace coal as an energy source.

Mr Forrest repaid the Commonwealth $20 million of the $33 million received in grants and last week reached a confidential settlement in his $66 million dispute with the Queensland government over his failure to build a promised plant in Gladstone.

Mr Dawson said the stand could serve as a global problem-solving pit stop.

“Across the world, as we know, governments but also businesses are navigating climate change, energy security, geopolitical uncertainty, changing supply chains and driving demand for affordable and reliable energy,” he said.

“For investors, for industry and for international partners, Western Australia really does offer stability, offers capability, and offers long-term opportunities. And we are very excited about working with you to solve some of these crazy challenges that the world faces at the moment.”

But he said gas would be required to power the increasing critical minerals sector.

This week, the head of the International Energy Agency told the same conference that the wars in Ukraine and Iran, which have disrupted global gas and oil markets.

National leader Matt Canavan seized on the comments, saying it vindicated his position that Australia should stop retiring coal plants.

In Australia, coal, which emits the highest amount of carbon emissions, made up around a quarter of the country’s energy consumption in 2025.

WA and the NT use the least coal of all the states, but WA also uses the least amount of renewables of the states, according to the latest available federal data.

WA relies heavily on natural gas for its energy. Gas is a fossil fuel but emits around 50 per cent less carbon emissions compared to coal.

The ONS Conference is also a major industry trade show where investors gather to swap notes on their latest technological advancements, as well as meet potential customers.

The Government of Western Australia commissioned a giant stand at the exhibition, decorated with wattle blossoms and stocked with free Tim-Tams.

A key figure attending is Francis Norman, the Perth-based CEO of the Centre of Decommissioning Australia, the peak body for the oil and gas industry’s efforts to plug old wells and remove their rigs and pipelines.

He told The Nightly that the Norwegians had long dominated the sector but that despite the commercial rivalry between oil and gas companies worldwide, when it came to closing down their old infrastructure, there was no competition.

“What we are learning in Australia we can share here; what they have seen here they can share with us,” he said.

“Fundamentally, there isn’t any money to be made from decommissioning by the operators. This is end of life. What they want to do is optimise their spend to do the work as efficiently as they can,” he said.

“What that leads to is a much more open and shared environment than you see in almost any industry; it’s not a competition; if anything, there’s a competition to do it well, but everybody wants to share.

“So we find it’s so open when we reach out; there’s so much information that people are happy to share.”

The organisation was only established in 2019 and represents 180 members, including regulators, operators, supply chain, researchers and experts in the field.

“The industry has plugged around 500 wells since then,” he said.

Globally, he said between 95 and 98 per cent of the predominantly steel, copper, cement and plastics pulled up from the decommissioned wells and rigs were reused.

“That is amazing, but there’s an enormous amount of intrinsic value in that material as well, so there’s a real driver there to recycle as much as possible,” he said.

“Plastic is another interesting one; the plastics that are involved in these things are made to last – they are very hard to dismantle.

“There’s a West Australian company called Hyperion Systems — they’re 3D printing boats, and they’re 3D printing things like pontoons for the rainforests in the Daintree out of recycled plastic, so what we’re doing with all of this stuff, almost all of it can be reused.”

The industry is estimated to be worth around $40 billion.