Setting Australia’s 2035 emissions target is a daring tightrope act
No room for the timid: The 2035 emissions target must signal strong ambition on climate action, to drive policy and investment and avoid being seen as unrealistic or too costly.
The Perth-based LNG specialist operates the North West Shelf and Pluto LNG projects and is developing the Scarborough and Browse fields. It also has a 50 per cent stake in ExxonMobil's Bass Strait operation and substantial interests in the US and Mexico.
The Government has 'screwed up' with the Northern Endeavour oil vessel says Sen. Rex Patrick and the loophole that might cost $370 million remains five years after it was spotted.
Japan's JERA, the major buyer of Australian LNG, has embraced zero emissions by 2050 in another signal that the clock is ticking on this major export.
Prospects for LNG are under a shadow if Paris Agreement emissions cuts are pursued, according to the IEA, leaving Woodside and Santos in a very dark place.
The Northern Endeavor mess started with Woodside paying to rid itself of a rusty ageing asset, ended with a $362 million liability for the Government and in between was a regulatory shambles.
BP, unlike Chevron, remains committed to Woodside-operated North West Shelf LNG as it waits to drill nearby Ironbark, but Browse is unlikely to meet its investment criteria.
Chevron's slice of the North West Shelf LNG project is touted as ideal for infrastructure investors. It is the opposite - highly risky, complex and dysfunctional.
Northern Endeavour operator UPS and original owner Woodside are the two biggest recipients of Government spend on the failed oil vessel.
Woodside has invested in two existing green hydrogen projects chasing Federal funds as it battles changing markets and community concern about climate change.
North Sea expert recommends changes to stop a repeat of Woodside escaping a $360 million cleanup bill by paying a tiny inexperienced company to take an old rusty asset.
Cost, climate concerns and delay have killed Woodside's Browse LNG project and now it must negotiate with its old foes, the North West Shelf partners, to ensure Scarborough is developed.
Hundreds of 7000-year-old Aboriginal artefacts found off the Pilbara coast highlight a new issue for oil and gas to maintain its social license, with Woodside's Scarborough project at the forefront.
Woodside looks at gas to ammonia to fuel coal-fired power stations as concerns grow about the viability of LNG mega-projects.
All the info and a bit of comment on WA energy and climate every Friday