The green light for Black Mountain Energy comes just months after Federal experts said its environmental risk assessment was "limited and disjointed" and reached "largely unsupported" conclusions.
If the US miner is found to have mined too close to a large jarrah tree, it would trigger an automatic cancellation of its right to mine much of its lease.
Australia is the one of the world's biggest producer of liquefied natural gas. The North West Shelf, Pluto, Gorgon, Wheatstone, Prelude and Ichthys LNG projects source their gas from the waters off WA.
After a big splash four years ago and little publicity since, Woodside has teamed up with Japanese partners to promote a smaller, later, and dirtier hydrogen plant.
The draft of a decision to be made in July tells the Australian Government to remove polluting industries - such as Woodside's North West Shelf plant - from the area.
The US giant, which made $8 billion in Australia in 2024, is forcing its subcontractors to follow its example and send Australian engineering jobs overseas.
Doctors for the Environment Australia wants the Federal Court to review whether regulator NOPSEMA properly reviewed the climate impact of the $20 billion project.
