The 2020 outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has caused unprecedented health, social and economic upheaval in WA and across the world.
COVID-19
The Australian oil and gas industry shed about 3000 jobs in 2020, a far deeper cut than the national average, leaving the offshore safety regulator NOPSEMA worried about lack of maintenance.
Safety
While Australia's offshore oil and gas industry grew safety regulator NOPSEMA was troubled by cost-cutting operators, old wells to clean up and dealing with COVID-19.
COVID-19
Unions want Inpex to return to the pre-COVID practice of flying workers through Broome, not the remote Truscott airstrip.
Safety
Delays in offshore oil and gas maintenance after COVID-19 workforce cuts worries safety regulator NOPSEMA and unions, who have pointed to Inpex's Ichthys LNG project as a concern.
Analysis
Building a gas pipeline from WA to the east to help the the economy recover from COVID-19 is such an extraordinarily bad idea the judgement of Nev Power and others pushing it has to be questioned.
COVID-19
To reduce the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak offshore Shell has told its Prelude LNG workforce to spend half their leave in quarantine
Safety
Extended offshore rosters can be bad for the mental health of workers and the safety of the facility, warns offshore safety regulator NOPSEMA.
LNG
Wood Mackenzie and Bloomberg agree that too much US gas, high stockpiles in Europe and demand hit by COVID-19 make 2020 a tough time for LNG sellers.
Woodside Petroleum
Woodside has dropped plans for a 12-week work roster blasted by unions as "catastrophically unsafe" and will move to a temporary roster of two weeks of isolation, four weeks work and two weeks at home to manage COVID-19 risk.
Woodside Petroleum
Woodside's offshore workers may get a $50,000 bonus for working 12 weeks straight but unions claim the long stint is unsafe.
Inpex
Offshore unions have welcomed a deal with Inpex that adds two-weeks of isolation to the roster and gives half-pay to stood-down workers but slammed what they say is a Woodside proposal to work offshore for 12 weeks straight.
Industrial Relations
WA LNG producers Woodside and Chevron, beset by low prices and COVID-19 work restrictions, are maintaining dividends to shareholders and gas to customers as they shed workers, with unions describing Woodside’s actions as “brutal, cold, and unnecessary.”
Iron Ore
The iron ore price that had held up in the economic chaos of 2020 is beginning to fall, and the worst case of $US50 a tonne would shatter government revenue just when it is needed the most.
Woodside Petroleum
Woodside has heavily pruned its critical offshore maintenance teams leaving casual workers facing an uncertain future.
LNG
Woodside's Scarborough and Santos' Barossa LNG projects unlikely to happen this year as planned according to oil and gas experts Wood Mackenzie.
COVID-19
Casual workers taken off Ichthys offshore facilities by Inpex will be paid at least until next week under a standby deal similar to workers from the troubled Prelude LNG vessel.