BP has stood down contractors working on its biofuel plant just weeks before discovering if its adjacent green hydrogen project will win $1 billion of government backing.
ExxonMobil has for more than 50 years operated and owned half of the Bass Strat oil and gas operation off the Victorian coast. The US firm also owns 25 per cent of the Chevron-operated Gorgon LNG project in WA.
BHP's climate target excludes the Bass Strait, North West Shelf and future Scarborough LNG on the incorrect basis that the operator controls the emissions, not the joint owners.
Shell, Exxon and Chevron are big players in Australian oil and gas and being forced to decarbonise sooner will affect their local operations, with a possible king hit to Prelude.
Bass Strait partners ExxonMobil and BHP must plug 180 wells, dismantle ten platforms and tackle life-threatening corrosion after intervention by offshore safety regulator NOPSEMA.
Much of the $52 billion cost to decommission Australia's offshore oil and gas infrastructure will fall on the Federal Government via the tax system and work has started to boost industry collaboration and find cost savings.
Resources Minister Keith Pitt warned ExxonMobil ceo Darren Woods he would tighten rules for selling offshore oil and gas assets and shortly after the US major canned its Bass Strait exit.
