WOODSIDE Chief Operating Officer Liz Westcott has made a passionate plea for certainty from governments to provide North West Shelf gas approvals beyond 2030.
Speaking to Energy Exchange Australia in Perth on 11 March, Ms Westcott said uncertainty is already putting at risk near-term supply from the NWS fields that could help address the supply gap that is predicted in 2028 in Western Australia.
“It is challenging to invest in developments that extend beyond 2030 without certainty that we will be authorised to continue to operate beyond this date,” she said.
“The NWS Project has been a remarkable success story for Western Australia – brought about by collaboration between industry and governments.
“Now is the time for us to work together to ensure it can continue to deliver value.”
In the wide-ranging speech Ms Westcott outlined Woodside’s activities in WA including its efforts to secure the future of the NWS Project, growth in opportunities in decommissioning and, growth in supply as it targets the first LNG cargo from the Scarborough Energy Project in the second half of 2026.
She talked about six years spent working to secure environmental approval for ongoing operations of the NWS Project’s Karratha Gas Plant and why that approval mattered.
“It matters to the thousands of workers, homes and businesses in Western Australia that rely on the NWS. The NWS Project directly employs almost 900 people and indirectly employs 1,300 contractor staff to support its operations. Thousands more jobs are provided by businesses in the mining and manufacturing industries that rely on NWS gas.”
She said the project also supports the local supply chain, investing almost $1 billion dollars annually in Western Australian-based businesses and engaging more than 700 local companies.
“It matters to the federal and state treasurers, who rely on the revenue from royalties and taxes totalling more than $40 billion over the past 40 years. It matters to our customers, whether it’s homes or businesses in WA who rely on secure domestic gas supply, or customers across our region where gas can displace coal and enable renewables.
“Last year, the NWS Project supplied 14% of Western Australia’s domestic gas.”
At the same time as seeking environmental approval for ongoing operations Ms Westcott said Woodside was also responsibly managing field decline at the NWS.
This also provided emerging opportunities in decommissioning.
“Last year, we spent more than US$800 million on our global decommissioning activities, with the majority of that spend on campaigns offshore north-west Western Australia. Annual spend of that magnitude is right up there with what would be spent on a major development.
“This will see the removal of more than 350 kilometres of rigid pipe, flexible flowlines and umbilicals, the plugging and abandonment of redundant wells and the recovery of a range of other subsea infrastructure.
“We estimate more than 35,000 tonnes of equipment will be removed, with the vast majority of this – approximately 95% – being recycled or reused. The steel alone is about two thirds of the weight used to construct the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
“While much of the material from current decommissioning activities will go overseas to be recycled, there is potential to build out the local recycling industry. And we are actively exploring these opportunities with local suppliers and contractors.”
“An undertaking of this scale and nature requires close collaboration with a range of contractors – both domestic and international. We are working with a small number of international contractors who bring experience, technical expertise and the specialist offshore vessels required for our offshore decommissioning scopes. We have also engaged a range of Australian businesses, many with experience supporting defence, mining and refinery disposal.”
Ms Westcott also addressed what she called a “mega greenfields project” coming to life.
The Scarborough Energy Project involves the development of a natural gas field some 375 kilometres off the coast of north-west Australia in the Carnarvon Basin. The project includes the installation of a semi-submersible floating production unit connected by an approximately 430-kilometre pipeline to a second LNG processing train, Pluto Train 2 at the Pluto LNG facility near the Karratha Gas Plant.
Pluto Train 2 will process approximately five million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of Scarborough gas and with some modifications to the existing Pluto Train, up to three Mtpa will be processed there. At over 80% complete, and on track for first LNG cargo in the second half of 2026, the project forms an important part of the Woodside portfolio, providing natural gas for decades to come.
