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Australia approved on Wednesday Woodside Energys request to extend the life of its North West Shelf gas plant until 2070, after a six-year review process dogged by delays, appeals and backlash from green groups. The North West Shelf facility, located on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia, is the countrys oldest and largest liquefied natural gas plant and a key supplier to Asian markets. Environment Minister Murray Watt said in a statement the decision to approve the extension of the project would be subject to strict conditions particularly relating to the impact of air emissions levels from the operation. Woodside shares were trading higher through the day but jumped after the announcement to be up 4% in the afternoon. The projects existing approval was set to expire in 2030. Woodsides extension application, lodged in 2018, had been caught up in state and federal assessment processes due to competing concerns over energy security and its environmental impact. The extension lays the groundwork for Woodside, Australias top gas producer, to bring new gas fields online to feed the LNG plant and is expected to generate up to 4.3 billion metric tons of carbon emissions over its lifetime. The Western Australia state government cleared the project in December after considering nearly 800 appeals launched by activists. The federal government twice delayed making a call in the lead up to the May general election. With the North West Shelfs original offshore gas fields in decline, the decades-long extension opens the door for Woodside to develop its long dormant Browse offshore project to supply gas to the Karratha plant. Woodsides partners in the North West Shelf venture are units of BP, Chevron, Shell Japans Mitsui & Co and Mitsubishi Corp and Chinas CNOOC. |
