Woodside secures extension to respond to North West Shelf conditions

Woodside has been granted an extension to respond to Commonwealth conditions imposed on its North West Shelf extension of life proposal.

The company had had a Friday deadline to respond to federal Environment Minister Murray Watt’s mystery conditions around its potential impact on ancient nearby Aboriginal rock art on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

North West Shelf protesters outside Perth MP Patrick Gorman’s office on Friday morning.

The deadline extension came as protesters gathered on Friday morning outside the office of Patrick Gorman, Perth Labor MP and Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, urging the federal government to scrap its provisional approval.

In a statement, a Woodside spokeswoman said the company and its North West Shelf joint venture partners were continuing constructive consultation with the Commonwealth and agreed to an extension of the consultation period regarding Watt’s proposed conditions.

“Woodside recognises the importance of the matters being addressed by the proposed conditions of the environmental approval, including cultural heritage management and air quality,” she said.

Watt granted approval of Woodside’s request to extend the life of its North West Shelf assets, including the Karratha gas processing plant, from the 2030s to the 2070s, subject to the conditions.

This followed the WA government’s approval in December after six years of assessment.

The extension is crucial to the company’s Burrup Hub plans, which include its $30 billion proposal to tap gas from the Browse basin and liquefy it at the plant.

The plans are fiercely opposed by environmental groups who say Browse will emit 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon over its lifetime, making Australia unable to comply with the Paris Agreement.

The North West Shelf proposal in particular has been opposed over concerns about the impact of emissions on the Murujuga rock art gallery, which contains more than 1 million ancient petroglyphs carved onto rock faces.

A rock art monitoring report released last month that suggested current industrial emissions were not impacting the rock art has not dissuaded opponents, who question government interpretation of the data.

The UNESCO World Heritage Council looks set to reject a Commonwealth bid to place Murujuga on the World Heritage list over these concerns.

The conditions Watt placed on Woodside relate to these emissions but Woodside must formally respond to them before they are made public.

Protesters on Friday, including members of groups such as the Conservation Council of WA, on Friday demanded the government reject both Browse and the North West Shelf extension.

Watt is in France, attending the UN’s Ocean Conference, but on Thursday said it was not uncommon for proponents in this situation to take a bit longer in responding to conditions.

“I can’t predict exactly when it will be that Woodside will provide those comments,” he told ABC Radio.

“Once I receive them, I’ll consider them and [decide whether] to approve the project, and if so, with what conditions, and I’ll do that as quickly as I can.

“There have been constructive discussions under way between Woodside and my department since I handed down that proposed decision, but what we want to do is make sure that we can secure jobs and secure industry, but also not at the expense of our environment.”

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