"The government is allowing Alcoa to do whatever they friggin want," according to a long-term campaigner for better regulation of WA's alumina refineries.
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.
Woodside's own lack of maintenance means it cannot dispose of an 83m-long structure onshore as planned and will instead sink it to be an artificial reef near the Ningaloo Marine Park
The Conservation Council has launched legal action against Woodside and the WA Government that may reopen environmental approvals essential to the Scarborough and Browse LNG projects.
The Northern Endeavour saga gets murkier: court battles, Cabinet confidentiality, unspecified environmental problems and maybe a hefty bill for big oil and gas.
Chevron has another pressure vessel to worry about, this time on the Wheatstone platform, after Gorgon LNG production was slashed this year to fix faulty welds.
Resources Minister Keith Pitt plans to stop big oil companies passing on decommissioning liabilities and make them contribute to the Northern Endeavour decommissioning bill.
Tomorrow Peter Coleman must convince investment analysts that Woodside has a credible growth plan with Scarborough LNG, and that will take more than spin about a few approvals.
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.
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.
