Woodside Energy and the Australian Government have announced an extension to the consultation period for the environmental approval of the North West Shelf liquefied natural gas (LNG) project extension.
This follows last month’s conditional clearance for the project until 2070 after a lengthy review, despite some concerns.
The North West Shelf LNG project is located on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia (WA) and is the country’s oldest and largest LNG plant and a key supplier to Asian markets.
Environmental groups have raised concerns about the potential impact of the project’s extension on the ancient Murujuga rock art, a site of cultural and spiritual significance to indigenous Australians.
The conditions focus on the impact of air emissions, with the extension expected to generate up to 4.3 billion tonnes of carbon emissions over its lifetime.
Woodside Energy said in statement: “Woodside and the North West Shelf Joint Venture are continuing constructive consultation with the Federal Government. The parties have agreed to an extension of the consultation period regarding the government’s proposed conditions as part of the North West Shelf Project Extension environmental approval process.
“Woodside recognises the importance of the matters being addressed by the proposed conditions of the environmental approval, including cultural heritage management and air quality.”
The North West Shelf venture’s partners include BP, Chevron, China’s CNOOC, Japan’s Mitsui & Co, Mitsubishi and Shell.
The project has delivered more than 6,000 petajoules of domestic gas, supplying energy to homes and industries across WA.
Over the past four decades, the project has contributed more than A$40bn ($25.97bn) in royalties and excise, and created employment and contracting opportunities for the Pilbara region and the wider WA community.
The project has also enabled investment of more than A$300m in social and community infrastructure within the city of Karratha.
In May, Woodside Energy and Aramco signed a non-binding agreement to explore potential collaborations, including the possibility of Aramco acquiring an equity interest in the Louisiana LNG project in the US and securing LNG offtake rights.
