Woodside Energy and its North West Shelf Joint Venture partners have received final environmental approval from the Australian government for the North West Shelf Project Extension.
This extension allows for continued gas supply and development of new gas fields in Western Australia (WA), while enabling Woodside to operate its Karratha plant, which processes and liquefies gas for export, beyond 2030 and up to 2070.
Woodside executive vice-president and chief operating officer Australia Liz Westcott noted that the approval followed an extensive assessment and appeal process, including rigorous conditions to protect cultural heritage.
“This final approval provides certainty for the ongoing operation of the North West Shelf Project, so it can continue to provide reliable energy supplies as it has for more than 40 years,” Westcott said.
Woodside holds a 33.33% stake in the project, with other stakeholders including BP Developments Australia, Chevron Australia, Japan Australia LNG and Shell Australia, each holding a 16.67% stake.
The WA State Government approved the extension in December 2024 following six years of assessment and appeals, and the Federal Government has now granted environmental approval.
The Australian Government’s approval includes conditions for additional monitoring and management of air emissions to protect the Dampier Archipelago, including the Burrup Peninsula National Heritage Place.
Woodside stated that it remains committed to protecting the Murujuga cultural landscape and supports the World Heritage nomination and assessment process.
Murujuga is a region in northwest Australia characterised by its ancient rock formations. It includes the Burrup Peninsula, the 42 islands of the Dampier Archipelago, and surrounding marine areas.
The North West Shelf Project has supplied more than 6,000 petajoules of domestic gas, powering homes and industries in WA. However, the approval has faced criticism from conservation groups and the Greens, who called it a “betrayal” of Australians seeking climate action, reported the Guardian.
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt confirmed the approval, imposing 48 conditions on Woodside with regard to monitoring and restricting industrial emissions including nitrous oxide.
“We are confident the conditions we have set are the right ones to protect jobs and economic opportunities and to protect the rock art,” Watt said.
Emissions of gases like nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide will be capped and reduced, with nitrogen oxide emissions needing to fall by 60% by 2030 and 90% by 2061.
The Karratha plant is near the Murujuga indigenous rock art complex, a landscape of more than one million petroglyphs dating back 50,000 years.
Critics argue that emissions from the gas plant damage the rock art, but State Government-backed scientists have largely dismissed these concerns.
The Murujuga complex was granted world heritage status in July, described by UN advisers as a “manifestation of creative genius, inscribed in the landscape since deep time”.
