> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.boilingcold.com.au/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Government's Northern Endeavour oil vessel cleanup set to exceed $2b - URL: https://www.boilingcold.com.au/governments-northern-endeavour-oil-vessel-cleanup-set-to-exceed-2b/ - Published: 2026-09-30T04:51:48.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-30T04:51:48.000Z - Description: Woodside sold the project to an insubstantial company to avoid a few hundred million in decommissioning costs: now it and its competitors will pay the price. - Author: Peter Milne - Tags: EXCLUSIVE, Decommissioning, Northern Endeavour, Madeleine King, Oil, Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS), Federal Government, Cliff Head, Australian Energy Producers (AEP) The Federal Government has spent $1.5 billion on just the first of three phases of decommissioning the Northern Endeavour, whose owner failed four years after obtaining the [poorly maintained](https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/resources/2020/02/15/decommissioning-oil-vessel-could-cost-taxpayers-230m/15816852009400?ref=boilingcold.com.au) oil producer from Woodside. The cost to date, paid through a levy on offshore oil and gas production, has covered preparing the 274m-long vessel to be moved, disconnecting it from the seabed, and towing it to Denmark for recycling. The mounting bill, revealed through published contract information (table below), is leading some in the offshore oil and gas sector to question the Government's project management skills, with concerns the final bill could exceed $2.5 billion. The Government's contract with UK firm Petrofac has had 16 amendments so far, taking the original $357 million deal to $1.03 billion. The 21 largest contracts identified by *Boiling Cold* had a total initial value of $731 million. This has now more than doubled to $1.57 billion. Schedule delays have accompanied the cost hikes. The vessel was towed from the Timor Sea in September 2025, two years later than the Government's 2022 [environmental approval application](https://epbcpublicportal.environment.gov.au/all-referrals/project-referral-summary/project-decision/?id=32d5013d-7155-ed11-9562-000d3ae0929c&ref=boilingcold.com.au) envisaged. Phase 2 - to permanently seal nine wells on the seabed - was to be completed in 2025, but the lead contractor was only [appointed in August](https://www.industry.gov.au/news/zenith-energy-australia-pty-ltd-lead-phase-2-northern-endeavour-decommissioning-program?ref=boilingcold.com.au). In the same month, the Government [began looking](https://www.tenders.gov.au/Atm/Show/270a195c-a914-4160-aaf8-f825fe0d7052?ref=boilingcold.com.au) for a lead contractor for Phase 3 - removing pipelines from the seabed - that in 2022 was slated for completion by December. A Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) spokesperson said the Government's priority was worker safety and protecting the environment, while ensuring funds are spent efficiently. "All works have been procured through open tenders and evaluated to achieve the best value (for) money," they said. [Water Corporation looks to EPA to shield Perth’s water supply from Alcoa and Roger CookMark McGowan warned Alcoa to lift its game or curtail its mining, but his successor, Roger Cook, did the opposite.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f1/e6/f1e6ac34-dd15-4046-a261-93b6cf1963bf/content/images/icon/bc_symbol-01b4f205-37f1-4e0f-8934-995fc64f2c08.png)Boiling ColdPeter Milne![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f1/e6/f1e6ac34-dd15-4046-a261-93b6cf1963bf/content/images/thumbnail/Alcoa-mining-near-Serpentine-Dam-2-1-3cb27c53-0f0c-439b-97be-9514d4f96c02.png)](https://www.boilingcold.com.au/water-corporation-looks-to-epa-to-shield-perths-water-supply-from-alcoa-and-roger-cook/) In 2015, the owners of the Northern Endeavour, Woodside and a company now owned by Spain's Repsol, [recognised a decommissioning liability](https://www.boilingcold.com.au/poor-federal-regulation-allowed-the-360m-northern-endeavor-mess/) of about $362 million. Even with the best management, the clean-up would cost much more now. There has been a decade of inflation, further deterioration of the vessel under private ownership, and increased restrictions on what equipment can be left in the ocean. Oil and gas companies also commonly minimise the decommissioning liabilities they recognise on their balance sheets. *Boiling Cold* understands the vessel required more maintenance than the Government first expected. It was in poor condition when Northern Oil and Gas Australia (NOGA) received it, as [Woodside had cut maintenance](https://www.boilingcold.com.au/cutbacks-and-haste-spell-danger-on-northern-endeavour/) on the assumption it would close the project down, not sell it. ## A heavy levy about to be extended NOGA's failure pushed the Coalition Government of the time to crack down on the offshore oil and gas sector. It introduced trailing liabilities that made earlier owners liable for clean-up costs if subsequent owners failed, and a 48 cents-a-barrel levy on offshore production to pay for the Northern Endeavour. In the three years to mid-2024, the [levy collected](https://www.industry.gov.au/mining-oil-and-gas/oil-and-gas/offshore-oil-and-gas/decommissioning-northern-endeavour/offshore-petroleum-cost-recovery-levy?ref=boilingcold.com.au#how-much-the-ato-has-collected) $1.15 billion. The levy was not well received by other oil and gas producers, who [directed their ire](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/19/chevron-attacks-rival-woodside-for-its-failings-over-sale-of-floating-rig?ref=boilingcold.com.au) at both the Government and Woodside. “The circumstances under which NOGA was permitted to acquire ageing and late-life offshore assets, despite obviously lacking the appropriate technical or financial capability to operate those assets or meet its decommissioning obligations, is concerning,” Chevron said in 2021. “In its current form, the levy punishes Chevron and other responsible resource holders for the failings of others.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f1/e6/f1e6ac34-dd15-4046-a261-93b6cf1963bf/content/images/2026/09/Cliff-Head-platform-night.jpg) ****Cliff Head platform.** Image: Pilot Energy The industry successfully lobbied for the levy legislation to apply only to the Northern Endeavour, but that effort appears set to be undone soon. In July, the two owners of the Cliff Head oil platform off WA's Mid West [entered voluntary administration](https://www.boilingcold.com.au/triangle-energy-fails-due-to-200m-oil-field-clean-up-bill-off-wa/), leaving an estimated $200 million decommissioning effort unfunded. Soon after, normally pro-industry Resources Minister Madeleine King said she would have no hesitation in [extending the Northern Endeavour levy](https://www.watoday.com.au/business/companies/labor-threatens-oil-giants-with-emergency-offshore-clean-up-levy-20260715-p60fgf.html?ref=boilingcold.com.au) to cover Cliff Head. “Under no circumstances will taxpayers be left on the hook,” King said. The DISR spokesperson said, "While the administration unfolds, the Government has taken the necessary initial action to ensure safety and protect the environment." In September, King [authorised expenditure](https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2026L01220/latest/text/explanatory-statement?ref=boilingcold.com.au) for maintenance and management to keep the platform safe. "These costs will be recovered from the oil and gas industry," DISR said. "Taxpayers will not foot the bill." Australian Energy Producers, the oil and gas lobby group representing the companies paying the levy, did not respond to questions from *Boiling Cold*. --- [](https://www.datawrapper.de/%5F/8RUY7/?ref=boilingcold.com.au)