Woodside sold the project to an insubstantial company to avoid a few hundred million in decommissioning costs: now it and its competitors will pay the price.
WA Premier Mark McGowan warned Alcoa to lift its game or face curtailed mining, but his successor Roger Cook slashed water supply protections after a possibly empty threat from the US miner.
Investors beware: after spending more than $40 million in the Canning Basin, the US-owned company's continued pursuit of remote gas appears to be throwing good money after bad.
