Outrage after massive $16bn-plus fossil fuel project off WA gets green light

The Greens and environmental groups are outraged a massive gas project off Western Australia has been approved and have vowed to fight it.

Woodside Energy announced on Mondaythat it had been given the green light to develop the $US12bn ($A16.6bn) Scarborough gas project 375km off the coast as well as an associated upgrade of its Pluto liquefied natural gas facility near Karratha in the Pilbara region.

Scarborough is set to be the biggest oil and gas development in Australia in 10 years and will involve the construction of a 430km pipeline linking the gas field to the Pluto processing facility on the mainland.

As many as 3200 jobs are expected to be created in the construction phase and 600 jobs in the operational phase, with production slated to begin by 2026.

But environmental groups are up in arms and have vowed to campaign against it – something Woodside is familiar with after huge opposition to its plan for an onshore gas plant at James Price Point in the Kimberley region.

The oil and gas giant cited escalating costs for shelving that project – dubbed Browse – in 2013 but environmentalists claimed victory.

Now, Woodside appears set for another uphill battle with Scarborough, with the Greens voicing their “horror” at the project go-ahead announcement, calling it a “devastating day for our climate, our planet and our future” and estimating the project will result in the release of more than 1.69 billion tonnes of additional and indirect carbon emissions.

In a late-night speech to the Senate on Monday, senator Dorinda Cox said total pollution from the combined Scarborough/Pluto project was equal to 15 coal-fired power stations every year and would “be worse than Adani”.

“Over the last few years, modelling has shown that WA is the only state where emissions are rising. It’s no coincidence that WA is the only state with a massive exemption for its gas industry,” Senator Cox said.

“The Morrison government’s so-called commitment to net zero is impossible given the gas projects which are being approved.

“Emissions from the Pluto facility will be equal to around 5 per cent of WA’s current total emissions every single year, but there has been no assessment of carbon pollution and this is compounded by the fact that almost every environmental approval required for this project remains outstanding subject to unresolved legal challenges, requires updating or is behind schedule.

“It is not acceptable for any government to allow Australia’s most polluting fossil fuel project to proceed without a full public environmental impact assessment.”

Reaffirming her position on Tuesday, Senator Cox said the project would also hit marine life hard.

“The marine life will suffer in the wake of what we already have as part of the Woodside Northern Endeavour project,” she said.

That project in the Timor Sea was sold by Woodside to a small and inexperienced company several years ago, then forced to shut down in 2019 over environmental and safety concerns, leaving Australian taxpayers with big bills for maintenance and decommissioning.

“We cannot trust corporations like Woodside.”

Market Forces Asset Management campaigner Will van de Pol vowed: “The fight against the climate-wrecking Scarborough gas project has only just begun.

“If Woodside, BHP, and their investors think the community will stand idly by while they detonate the biggest oil and gas carbon bomb currently proposed in Australia, they are sorely mistaken.”

Activist group 350 Boorloo Perth made the same pledge.

“The Perth community isn’t just going to sit by while Woodside tries to get away with building the dirtiest new fossil fuel project currently planned in Australia,” campaigner Anthony Collins said.

“We’re just getting started – we won’t leave any stone unturned in this campaign.”

But WA Premier Mark McGowan was jubilant, describing Scarborough as a “boon for the state”, with 15 per cent of the gas allocated for the domestic market under a longstanding policy.

Both the Labor leader and State Development Minister Roger Cook talked up the jobs prospects.

“LNG can be used globally as a transition fuel to displace more carbon intensive fuels such as coal and there is strong demand in international markets that have made commitments to net zero emissions,” Mr Cook said.

Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill said the Scarborough reservoir contained only about 0.1 per cent carbon dioxide.

“And Scarborough gas processed through the efficient and expanded Pluto LNG facility supports the decarbonisation goals of our customers in Asia,” she said.

As with Woodside’s Pluto and neighbouring North West Shelf plants on the Burrup Peninsula, there are concerns about the impact of the Scarborough project on Indigenous rock art.

Senator Cox said she was concerned approvals had been provided by both the state and federal governments without assessing the damage the increase of emissions would cause to First Nation’s cultural heritage, including the Murujuga rock art.

The announcement came as Woodside and BHP agreed to merge their petroleum businesses in a $40bn mega-deal, creating one of the world’s biggest fossil fuel contributors.

BHP’s top executives were repeatedly pressed at the mining giant’s recent annual general meeting about the wisdom of getting out of fossil fuels by merging its petroleum assets with Woodside’s and at the same time supporting Scarborough through the tie-up.

“We’ve been in petroleum for 60 years, but we regularly assess our strategy and out portfolio of assets,” BHP chairman Ken MacKenzie told investors.

“We like petroleum as a commodity and we see strong medium-term demand for oil and gas through the energy transition, at least for the next decade and likely beyond.

“However, when we look at petroleum versus the other mineral commodities in our portfolio, we think it’s going to struggle to compete for capital.

“We believe … a merger with a dedicated oil and gas producer is the best option to create value for shareholders.”