A small UK firm chasing helium, hydrogen and gas in the remote Little Sandy Desert will ensure the WA Government that it has decommissioning costs covered in all eventualities before starting drilling planned for September.
London-listed Georgina Energy seeks to drill more than three kilometres underground but must first allay fears that its Hussar well could become a smaller Cliff Head, where financial failures in July left an unfunded clean-up bill for oil facilities of more than $200 million.
The WA Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration (DMPE) would not specifically comment on the Hussar well as arrangements are confidential, but a spokesman said the Government's position was clear:
"Petroleum titleholders are responsible for the decommissioning of oil and gas projects in WA, ... (the) community will not bear the costs," he said.
"Where required, operators must procure Public and General Liability insurance, along with an Operators Extra Expense policy covering well control and pollution.
"This insurance must be in place before operational activities commence on site."
It appears that the WA Government has set down those requirements for Georgina's Australian subsidiary, Westmarket Oil and Gas.
Boiling Cold asked Georgina Energy what arrangements were in place to ensure that, regardless of possible cost overruns or lack of exploration success, the Hussar site would be decommissioned and restored, and whether the arrangements were independent of the company's financial strength.
A company spokeswoman said the drilling would comply with a well management plan approved by DMPE that "covers all the items you have raised.”
The helium hopeful half a world away
Georgina Energy, which has no revenue and just two projects - Hussar in WA and Mt Winter in the NT, where it is also chasing helium, hydrogen and gas - is valued at £34 million ($65 million) by the London stock market.
In its most recent financial accounts to January 31 2026, the auditor concluded that "a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
However, since then it has received £7 million ($13 million) from equity raisings to pursue developing Hussar, which it claims has helium and hydrogen with a potential "in-situ" value of $US55 billion ($77 billion).
Investor interest is likely buoyed by the US-Iran war, which has blocked th Strait of Hormuz, isolating a third of the world's supply of the gas vital for semiconductor manufacture and MRI machines.
Even if Georgina finds significant quantities of helium, it could face a huge technical challenge to develop Hussar.
A study commissioned by Georgina that "confirms the potential for a commercial gas field development at Hussar, capable of producing helium, hydrogen, LNG, and argon" came with a caveat: "no existing process operating in this manner is known to the author."
In July, the two ASX-listed owners of the Cliff Head platform off the coast of WA's Mid West - Pilot Energy and Triangle Energy - called in administrators, leaving an estimated $200 million decommissioning bill in Commonwealth waters, and more work in WA's jurisdiction of shallow waters and onshore.
Prior to the failure, Pilot's accounts, like Georgina before its fundraising, reported "a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt as to whether the group will continue as a going concern"
In recent years, numerous small oil and gas companies in Australia have failed, leaving governments responsible for making wells safe, removing equipment and restoring sites.
In 2020, the owner of the Northern Endeavour oil vessel in the Timor Sea went into liquidation, just four years after Woodside sold the vessel to an under-financed one-man company.
In response, the Federal Government introduced a levy on offshore petroleum production so the industry, not taxpayers, pays the estimated $1 billion decommissioning bill.
Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King has said she would have no hesitation in extending the levy to cover Cliff Head.
However, it is unclear how the WA Government would fund the clean-up of Cliff Head's onshore and shallow-water facilities within its jurisdiction while maintaining its vow that the community will not pay.
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.
INPEX has spilled oil into Darwin Harbour, exposed offshore workers to dangerous mercury, and been prosecuted for under-reporting toxic emissions by more than 100-fold, all in the past 12 months.
Peter Milne
