Canadian firm Vermilion judged the chance of the December spill as "rare" - the same probability it claims for seven planned exploration wells that could affect anywhere along the Pilbara coast.
Chief executive Bill Oplinger told Wall Street the miner had responded to all 60,000 comments on its WA expansion plans—in fact, it responded to fewer than 10, and some were unacceptable.
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.
Northern Oil and Gas Australia bought the Northern Endeavour floating oil production vessel in the Timor Sea from Woodside in 2016 and went into liquidation in early 2020.
The Federal Government is now decommissioning the project, financed by a levy on offshore oil and gas production.
