Exploration plans spark fear of another Santos WA oil spill

WA's peak environmental body warns that proposed drilling by Santos to find oil under the seabed north of Port Hedland is a risk to marine parks, commercial fishing and protected species.

Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) director Matt Roberts said Santos’ own modelling showed that spills from the drilling could cause wide-ranging devastation to WA’s iconic Pilbara coastline.

“Santos wants permission to drill near some of our most iconic marine parks and around 40 kilometres from the Rowley Shoals Marine Park,” he said.

Adelaide-based Santos plans to drill up to seven wells sometime in the next five years in the Bedout Basin, more than 100km from the WA coast (see pink outlined areas below).

**Area that could be affected by an oil spill - no single spill would impact the entire area.** Source: Santos Environment Plan

In December Santos lodged an environment plan for the drilling to be assessed by the Federal offshore environment regulator NOPSEMA.

The Adelaide-based company's analysis showed that the environment that may be affected (EMBA - see blue outlined area above) was a vast swathe of ocean stretching from off Carnarvon, northwards to near Timor Leste.

The most serious possible incident is a loss of well control, which Santos predicted in the worst case could last for 77 days until it could drill a relief well to stem the flow from the initial hole.

"Hydrocarbons will persist within the environment for a longer period of time, although the hydrocarbon released is expected to weather quickly through evaporation and dispersion," the Santos environment plan stated.

According to the CCWA, inside the area that may be affected are three World Heritage Areas - Shark Bay, Ningaloo and Murujuga - and nine marine parks. The area also contains fisheries for economically important crayfish, scallops, abalone and prawns and is home to 13 protected species.

Roberts pointed to Santos' "dire record of ongoing leaks and spills in the Northern Territory and WA."

Santos negligence caused an oil spill in WA

In August, the ABC revealed that a tank holding liquified natural gas at a Santos gas export plant near Darwin had been leaking for two decades.

In 2022 three dead dolphins were found within 200m of an oil spill at Santos' Varanus Island gas processing plant off the Pilbara coast.

The Adelaide-based company denied any link between the two events as, according to a company spokeswoman, the carcasses were found a few hours after the spill "in which time no harm would have resulted from this incident.”

However, SA Museum honorary mammal researcher Dr Catherine Kemper said in 2022 that the fact that the dead dolphins were floating suggested a sudden death.

insert caption here. Source; Anon.

In 2025 Santos plead guilty in the Karratha criminal court to "failing to operate its licensed pipeline in a proper and workmanlike manner, failing to prevent the escape of petroleum."

A whistleblower whose anonymous statement was tabled in Federal parliament in 2023 accused Santos of a cover up.

“Santos lied to us all. It is not a coincidence to find dead dolphins in the middle of an oil spill," he said.

“It indicates a belief within Santos that they can operate to avoid public interest through misinformation, supported by a cosy relationship with regulators and government.”

The oil spill was just one of five known serious safety and environmental incidents that occurred in just two years at Santos' operations around Varanus Island

In one incident several workers nearly died when the lift of a disused oil platform went out of control.

The International Marine Contractors Association told its members it was a “serious incident” that “had a high potential for multiple fatalities."

WA safety regulator Worksafe decided not to launch a prosecution.

Another problem was ten platforms found to be in a state of dangerous disrepair that "may result in injuries/fatalities to personnel visiting the platform," according to a Santos document.

A drilling rig contracted by Santos had a blowout preventor intended to stop oil spills that was "unfit for service."

Gas bubbling to the surface from a subsea pipeline forced a platform to be shut down for two months, curtailing gas supply to WA and forcing some industry to shut down.

Santos was asked to comment.