A letter from the US miner raised hope that the jarrah forest inland from Perth would escape its strip mining for bauxite, but Alcoa is keeping its options open.
I worked in oil & gas in commercial and engineering roles for 20 years. Since 2016, I have written for The West Australian, WAtoday, The Guardian and Boiling Cold, winning five WA Media Awards.
If Woodside's argument that a reef's environmental benefit outweighs 400 tonnes of plastic in the ocean wins over NOPSEMA then leaving everything on the seabed could become the default option for Australia's oil and gas players.
As wind and solar displaces coal the South West of WA will have ample generation, according to a 10-year look ahead, with the growth of electric vehicles being the big unknown.
Droughts could be twice as long and severe in the greenest parts of South West WA from 2050 onwards if greenhouse gas emissions are not controlled, and some WA farms may become unviable.
Woodside's Pluto LNG plant has delivered less that one per cent of its gas to WA due to a 2006 WA Government deal that appeared generous then and looks feeble now.
Chevron has been denied a two-year free pass on Gorgon greenhouse gas emissions by the WA Government that could cost it more than $80 million, and there may be a future bill for Wheatstone as well.
As Environment Minister in 2006 Mark McGowan led the way to ensure gas projects offset some of their emissions. Now as Premier he may need to choose between climate credibility and the interests of WA's most powerful man.
KBR is weathering the oil price slump through diversification but senior exec Greg Conlon is worried oil and gas companies will impose excessive risk onto contractors when the industry recovers.
Building a gas pipeline from WA to the east to help the the economy recover from COVID-19 is such an extraordinarily bad idea the judgement of Nev Power and others pushing it has to be questioned.
Shell's giant $US17B Prelude floating LNG is late, expensive, dirty and so far unreliable. An exclusive look at how a failed investment for Shell is a terrible deal for Australia.
It will cost $76 billion to clean up after Australia's oil and gas industry, with a good chunk to be borne by taxpayers, and no one is in a hurry to start the work.
