Karratha Gas Plant: Woodside Energy wins WA approval to run LNG facility until 2070, awaits Federal blessing

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek will have 30 business days to make a call on the future of the Karratha Gas Plant after a crucial State Government approval finally arrived. Woodside Energy and partners in the North West Shelf Venture want to keep the giant LNG export facility online until 2070. And they secured a big tick on Thursday from Western Australian Environment Minister Reece Whitby, who brought an end to a six-year regulatory process. That has restarted the clock on Commonwealth approvals and the decision could become a major national battle ahead of the upcoming Federal Election. Woodside wants the green-light as a key step in development of the long-awaited $30 billion Browse project, a plan to pipe gas from off WA’s north coast to Karratha for export. Browse will also need to run the gauntlet through State and Federal approvals for offshore development. But environmental activists and gas lobbyists moved quickly to heap pressure on Ms Plibersek. She incited industry fury by effectively canning Regis Resources’ McPhillamy’s gold mine in New South Wales through an Indigenous Heritage ruling earlier this year. Yet just weeks later, Ms Plibersek acted to hose down concerns about endangered sea snakes stopping the deep-ocean Browse development. On Thursday she was playing her cards close to her chest. A spokeswoman for her department said it would be inappropriate for the minister to provide comment “until a decision on the proposal has been made” It will likely become a national issue nonetheless as LNG exports account for about 8 per cent of Australia’s carbon emissions. Australian Energy Producers boss Caroline Cherry declared the Federal Government “must recognise the need to bring on more gas supply sooner”. Ms Cherry said the Commonwealth must provide certainty to a project which “delivers wide-ranging benefits to Australia, Western Australia and regional trading partners”. Woodside chief operating officer Liz Westcott said Thursday’s decision was “an important step” for the Karratha plant to process third-party gas. The Perth-based company has been hunting deals to bring new fuel sources into the facility but permanently shut down one of five processing trains in recent weeks as supply runs out. “We look forward to the finalisation of the Federal approval process to provide certainty around the ongoing operation of the North West Shelf Project,” Ms Westcott said. WA Greens leader Brad Pettitt has labelled the Karratha plant “a climate bomb in the making”, while Greenpeace chief David Ritter called on Ms Plibersek to “take responsibility” and block the proposal. “The approval . . . flies in the face of the clear scientific evidence about the incompatibility of new fossil fuels with a safer climate, and the possibly catastrophic environmental consequences of Woodside’s Burrup Hub,” Mr Ritter said. The impact on nearby ancient rock art on the Burrup Peninsula — nominated for a World Heritage listing — will add to scrutiny. Former Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation chair Raelene Cooper said “Murjuga is my country and it holds my songlines. The rock art is sacred to my people. “This project is going to wreck all that with toxic emissions, if the government let them.” Woodside is the operator of both Browse and the North West Shelf Venture but has been herding cats seeking to secure support for a processing deal with its business partners. A final investment decision will also depend on the project’s economics. The company first lodged the plan to extend the Karratha plant’s life with the State’s Environmental Protection Authority in 2018. The pandemic, volatile gas prices and red tape meant the final sign off has come a full six years later. Mr Whitby’s decision looked like a foregone conclusion in late November when he finalised an appeals process that ran close to 900 days.