The WA government will soon decide whether Black Mountain Energy can frack 20 wells near the Kimberley's Fitzroy River, but promised measures to protect the environment and the rights of local people are not yet in place.
Alcoa chief executive Bill Oplinger told Wall Street the US aluminium specialist could take strong action to boost profits from alumina, most of which it refines in Western Australia.
South West WA's power grid reached a record 91 per cent peak renewable energy share in December - driven by 1,225 MW of new battery storage - while wholesale power prices fell 13 per cent and carbon emissions dropped 15 per cent as coal and gas generation declined.
A vital blow-out preventer failed testing, leading to an "immediate threat" to offshore workers.
The offshore safety regulator has halted drilling of the Barossa gas field 300km north of Darwin because vital safety equipment may not work in an emergency.
NOPSEMA ordered London-based Valaris to stop work on its MS-1 drilling rig on May 5 due to concerns about the blowout preventer (BOP) that is designed to quickly stop the flow of oil and gas from a well in an emergency.
The failure of a BOP to seal a well was central to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 workers and caused a devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The regulator's direction, published on Monday, stated that "the BOP system is degraded and may not function as intended in an emergency scenario, such as a well blowout, resulting in a potential major accident event with serious or fatal health consequences to workers.
Peter Milne
A set of hydraulic rams failed a pressure test conducted after the BOP had been installed underwater. The safety standard Valaris had told NOPSEMA it would follow requires two pairs of rams to be operable.
Prior to NOPSEMA issuing the legally enforceable stop work order, it had told Valaris it considered the state of the BOP to be unacceptable, and the company had not advised it whether it had taken any action.
Valaris must secure the well it is drilling as safely as possible and return the BOP to the surface to be fixed.
A Santos spokeswoman said the regulator ordered repairs to the BOP after a routine inspection.
"There was no safety incident and there is no threat to people, property or the environment," she said.
"Valaris is making the repair and expects to resume drilling later this week,
"The rig’s remaining work is to complete two of six wells, with the four completed wells already sufficient to achieve Barossa’s nameplate capacity."
Last week, Santos told investors that gas is scheduled to start flowing to Darwin in the September quarter.
UPDATED 12 May 1:35 PM - Santos comments added.
Plans by Santos, which negligently caused an oil spill off WA four years ago, to drill seven exploration wells off the Pilbara coast have drawn fire from an environmental group.
SGH's decade of neglect of its Longtom gas field off the Gippsland coast is "an erosion of good industry practice" according to NOPSEMA.
NOPSEMA has ordered Jadestone to urgently address corrosion on its aged Montara Venture oil vessel in the Timor Sea, which "may pose significant safety and environmental risks."
A Federal Court win could mean all offshore oil and gas producers would need to prove they can afford their share of a $62 billion cleanup.
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