Investors beware: after spending more than $40 million in the Canning Basin, the US-owned company's continued pursuit of remote gas appears to be throwing good money after bad.
Canadian firm Vermilion judged the chance of the December spill as "rare" - the same probability it claims for seven planned exploration wells that could affect anywhere along the Pilbara coast.
Quinn Glabicki is a freelance photojournalist and writer currently covering climate change and the environment for PublicSource.
He has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Guardian
