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.
Oil production in WA comes from condensate produced with gas for LNG plants, dedicated production vessels and until 2025, onshore wells on Barrow Island.
The $2.3 billion-plus decommissioning on a WA nature reserve will be part-funded by the Federal and WA governments returning about half the royalties they received over six decades.
The company that thinks a damaging oil spill from its planned drilling near Scott Reef is "only a mere theoretical possibility" weeks ago accidentally released a cocktail of hydrocarbons, chemicals and water into the Indian Ocean.
A struggling deal between two companies will determine if an unused oil platform off the WA coast is used for carbon storage or needs to be decommissioned.
Santos wants to approve its $2.8B Dorado oil project off WA in mid-2022 but science and the law will provide hurdles to its 165 million tonnes of carbon pollution.
Two Woodside offshore workers were injured when a 500kg load fell after a lifting appliance with unapproved modifications failed but Woodside reported only one injury to the safety regulator.
Santos has "announced" the launch of design work for its Dorado oil project off WA without awarding any engineering contracts. The $2.6 billion project could later supply gas to the mainland.
Australia's oil and gas industry has lost the fight not to bear the full cost of cleaning up after an oil vessel in the Timor Sea with a bankrupt owner.
