North West Shelf Project

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North West Shelf Venture leases and infrastructure Nws map1.png
North West Shelf Venture leases and infrastructure

The North West Shelf Project (NWS), also known as the North West Shelf Venture, is an Australian resource development project, extracting natural gas from under the ocean from the North West Shelf off the coast of Western Australia. Running since the 1980s, it is Australia's largest such project. It involves the extraction of petroleum (mostly natural gas and condensate) at offshore production platforms, onshore processing at the Karratha Gas Plant, and production of natural gas for industrial, commercial, and domestic use within the state, as well as the export of liquefied natural gas. The Karratha Gas Plant, which is located on the Murujuga Cultural Landscape (Burrup Peninsula), is operated by Woodside Energy. The plant supplies up to 15 per cent of Western Australia's gas needs, with the rest exported overseas; none flows to the eastern states.

Contents

It was owned by a joint venture of six partners – BHP, BP, Chevron, Shell, Woodside Petroleum and a 50:50 joint venture between Mitsubishi and Mitsui & Co – with each holding an equal one-sixth shareholding. Along with being a joint venture partner, Woodside is the project operator on behalf of the other participants. In June 2022, BHP Petroleum merged with Woodside Energy, giving Woodside Energy a one-third shareholding in the project.

In 2020–2021, the North West Shelf Project was the single largest industrial emitter for Australia, according to the Clean Energy Regulator. The project was planned to be shut down in 2030, but, after the federal government spent six years assessing the matter, on 28 May 2025 Environment Minister Murray Watt provisionally approved the extension of the project until 2070 with conditions not made public, pending a response from Woodside Energy, raising environmental and cultural concerns. [1]

Overview

The North West Shelf Project involves the extraction of petroleum, mostly in the form of natural gas and condensate using offshore production platforms, as well as onshore processing. It produces natural gas for industrial, commercial, and domestic use within the state, as well as exporting liquefied natural gas.[ citation needed ] North West Shelf gas is processed at the Karratha Gas Plant on the Burrup Peninsula, which is operated by Woodside Energy. [2] It is also referred to as North West Shelf Venture, and simply NWS. It is one of the largest LNG projects in the world, and a major employer in the region. [3] The project is underpinned by huge hydrocarbon reserves within the Carnarvon Basin. [3]

History

Discoveries of large gas reserves at the North Rankin, Goodwyn, and Angel gas fields within the Carnarvon Basin were made in the early 1970s. Extraction was technically challenging, and in order to make it commercially viable, unprecedented levels of investment were poured into the project, [4] which began in the early 1980s. In the late 1980s, it was the largest engineering project in the world. [5] With investments totalling A$25 billion since the early 1980s as of 2008, the project was the largest resource development in Australian history, [6] and remains so in 2025. [3]

The first phase of NWS included the development of the North Rankin A offshore drilling and production platform, a submarine pipeline to shore at Mermaid Sound in the Port of Dampier, and facilities for delivery of domestic gas via a pipeline to Perth and Bunbury, and provision for exporting excess condensate. The second phase involved building two LNG processing trains, along with storage tanks, export facilities, and tankers for transporting the LNG. [4]

In 2012 first two phases of the project received an Engineering Heritage International Marker from Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program. [4]

NWS was owned by a joint venture of six partners – BHP, BP, Chevron, Shell, Woodside Petroleum and a 50:50 joint venture between Mitsubishi and Mitsui & Co – with each holding an equal one-sixth shareholding. [7] Along with being a joint venture partner, Woodside is the project operator on behalf of the other participants. On 1 June 2022, BHP's Petroleum business merged with Woodside Energy, giving Woodside Energy a one-third shareholding in the project. [8]

In 2019, Woodside and the other joint venture partners proposed to extend the life of the project, including the Karratha Gas Plant. [9] [2] On 28 May 2025, after spending six years on assessing the matter, the federal Environmental Minister Murray Watt approved the Karratha Gas Plant operation until 2070, drawing criticism from Traditional Owners and environmentalists. [10] Existing gas fields are being depleted, and to continue the operation of the Karratha Gas Plant, gas reserves in the Browse Basin would need to be exploited. The Browse Basin is around 400 km (250 mi) off the north-west coast of WA, for which Woodside commenced seeking approval for in 2018. [11] A previous project, Browse LNG, had been shelved as an onshore project at James Price Point in 2013, citing lack of economic viability. There had also been controversy over its siting by both environmentalists and Traditional Owners. James Price Point is close to the world's largest dinosaur footprints as well as several Aboriginal sacred sites. An alternative floating platform was being considered. [12] Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the extended supply of gas was necessary to increase Western Australia's renewables, to provide "firming capacity" to encourage investment in renewables. [13]

There are other technical issues with the gas in the Browse Basin, as the gas has a high percentage of carbon dioxide. In order to remain in line with emissions commitments, it requires a complex carbon capture and storage program, which may not prove economically feasible. Woodside's justification for the expansion of NWS is that if Australia does not produce more gas, it would need more coal. However, this logic is questionable, according to the lead analyst for Australian gas at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, Josh Runciman. [14]

Assets

Offshore facilities

The venture has four offshore facilities:

North Rankin A (NRA)

Commissioned in 1984, North Rankin A was the then-largest gas production platform in the world, capable of producing 1,815 million cubic feet (51,400,000 m³) of gas per day and up to 47,400 barrels per day (7,540 m3/d) of condensate. Modifications have increased the facility's capacity by 50% and it remains one of the world's largest gas platforms. [15]
It is located 135 km north-west of Dampier and can accommodate more than 120 people. It services 25 production wells in the North Rankin and Perseus fields.[ citation needed ] Together, North Rankin A and North Rankin B, along with two export trunklines (TL1 and TL2) which run between them and the KGP, make up the North Rankin Complex (NRC). [16]

Goodwyn A (GWA)

At a cost of $2bn, the platform was, when commissioned in early 1995, the largest single offshore oil and gas investment ever made in Australia.
In late 2001, the Goodwyn platform was linked to the Echo/Yodel gas and condensate fields via a 23 km 12-inch (300 mm) pipeline. Hydrocarbons from the Goodwyn field are transferred via a subsea pipeline to North Rankin before being transported to Karratha for processing. It is designed for up to 30 production wells (19 currently), including five re-injection wells. It accommodates 137 people.
It has a production capacity of 32,000 tonnes of gas per day.

Cossack Pioneer Floating Production Storage and Off-loading (FPSO)

The facility was commissioned in late 1995 and produces up to 50,000 barrels per day (7,900 m3/d) [17] of crude oil which is offloaded via a flexible line to oil tankers moored astern. Located 34 km east of the North Rankin A platform, it is moored to a riser turret which is connected by flexible flowlines to subsea production wells at the Wanaea, Cossack, Lambert and Hermes gas fields.
It has a storage capacity of 1.15 million barrels (183,000 m3) of oil and a production capacity of 150,000 barrels (24,000 m3) of oil per day.
In May 2008, Woodside announced plans to replace the 13-year-old vessel with a view to extending oil output to 2025-2030. [17]

North Rankin B (NRB)

In March 2008, the partners approved a A$5 billion North Rankin 2 project, which included the installation of North Rankin B. [18] NRB was ultimately commissioned in 2013, standing in 125 metres of water, and is linked to North Rankin A by two bridges. NRB's primary function is to provide gas compression and condensate pumping of fluids produced from the NRA wells and exported via the NRA export facilities. [16]

Karratha Gas Plant and shipping

The Karratha Gas Plant was built in Karratha in the 1980s, originally including multiple LNG production trains.[ citation needed ] In 2008, the facility capacity was increased to 16.3 million tonnes per year with the commissioning of a fifth LNG production train. As well as processing gas for export, the facility supplies domestic supplies to consumers and businesses in Western Australia (WA). The facility also processes condensate which is extracted from the gaseous hydrocarbons during processing.[ citation needed ]

The project assets also include LNG and condensate docking and loading facilities at Withnell Bay at the Karratha Gas Plant, such as jetties, LNG storage tanks and other infrastructure, supported by Dampier Port Authority. [19] Other assets are a fleet of purpose-built LNG [[cargo ships, powered using gas vapour from the storage tanks on board, which run steam turbines.[ citation needed ] A subsidiary company, North West Shelf Shipping Service Company Pty Ltd, manages the shipping operations.[ citation needed ]

Production and sales

Exports

The first LNG shipments went to Japan in 1989. Two hundred shipments per year (about one shipment every 1.5 days) in the purpose-built LNG carriers totalling more than seven million tons were being made around the world in 2008. Markets include sales to long-term customers in Japan as well as spot buyers in China, Spain, South Korea, and the United States. [20]

In 2002, a contract was signed to supply 3 million tonnes of LNG a year [21] from the North West Shelf Venture to China. The contract was worth $25 billion: between $700 million and $1 billion a year for 25 years. [22] [21] The price was guaranteed not to increase until 2031, and, as international LNG prices were increasing, by 2015 China was paying one-third as were Australian consumers. [21]

Domestic use

The venture was in 2008 WA's largest single producer of domestic gas, providing about 65% of total state production. [6] Pipeline gas is processed at the consortium's Karratha facility, and transported to customers in southern WA via the 1,530-kilometre (950 mi) Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline. A subsidiary company, North West Shelf Gas Pty Ltd, was as of 2008 marketing the domestic gas component to customers in Western Australia through private contracts and sales to Alinta. [23]

WA is not connected to the National Electricity Market nor to gas pipelines in the eastern states, so gas produced here does not supply any other part of Australia and so does not affect power prices across Australia. [14] WA is the only state or territory that requires gas producers to keep a certain percentage of production (in this case 15%) for domestic use. However, in June 2025, it was supplying far less than this minimum amount. [14]

Concerns

Indigenous rock art

During the construction of the Karratha Gas Plant in the 1980s, it is estimated that 5,000 sacred rock art sites were destroyed. [24] This is estimated[ by whom? ] to be the largest destruction of Aboriginal cultural heritage in Australia.[ citation needed ] The plant is situated near to a 37,000-hectare (91,000-acre) natural gallery of over a million 50,000-year-old petroglyphs at Murujuga. [11]

An agreement for land access to the area on which the North West Shelf operates was executed in 1998, between the Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi people. However, by this stage the gas plant has been in operation for more than a decade and over 5,000 sacred sites had already been destroyed. Traditional Owners have regularly sought re-negotiation of the agreement, citing that Elders who signed the agreement could not read or write English and thus could not understand nor consent to the agreement.[ citation needed ]

In 2023, during a speech at the National Press Club, Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill admitted that Woodside had previously destroyed sacred Murujuga rock art during the construction of the Burrup Hub mega-project. This marks the first instance of Woodside publicly accepting responsibility for the destruction of numerous rock art sites on Murujuga. Woodside has previously been implicated in the destruction of thousands of sacred rock art sites during the construction of earlier phases of the Burrup Hub mega-project, including the Karratha Gas Plant and Pluto LNG processing facility. O'Neill characterised the historical removals, some of which occurred as recently as the 21st Century, as "culturally appropriate at the time". [25] [26] In response, Raelene Cooper, a Mardudhunera woman and former Chair of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, said: [25]

For Meg O'Neill to describe the destruction of our sacred rock art with bulldozers as culturally appropriate at the time quite frankly beggars belief and is deeply offensive. How can she say it was culturally appropriate - who did Woodside ask for permission, and who gave them cultural authority? Where was the consultation process? This is our sacred cultural heritage that Woodside bulldozed into the sea. Since the 1960s, archaeologists and experts have been clear about the cultural heritage significance of this rock art but Woodside continued to damage, remove and destroy our rock art. How was it culturally appropriate? It was not then and it is not now. It is misleading for anyone to suggest otherwise.

In May 2025, UNESCO declined to progress the World Heritage Listing of Murujuga, due to the impacts emission impacts on rock art, and called on Australia to provide more protection for rock art. [27] UNESCO asked the government to "ensure the total removal of degrading acidic emissions" and to develop a decommissioning and rehabilitation plan for the area around the gas plant. [28]

Hearing about the federal government decision to approve the expansion of the gas plant to operate until 2070, Ngarluma-Yindjibarndi woman Kaylene Daniel said that she was very sad, after such a long fight to save the site. "World heritage is what we want and need. We don't want this expansion [of the gas plant]". [29] .

Environment

In 2019, Woodside, and the Joint Venture partners, Chevron, Shell, BP, and Mimi, proposed to extend the life of the North West Shelf project, including the Karratha Gas Plant. [9] The proposal was to extend the life of the project by another 50 years. It is estimated that extending the project by 50 years could result in approximately 4.3 billion tonnes of carbon emissions, with only 8 percent of that aligning with the country's net-zero target by 2050. [2]

The North West Shelf gas project was the single largest industrial emitter in 2020–21, according to the Clean Energy Regulator (CER). [2] [30] In June 2022 the independent Environmental Protection Authority of Western Australia recommended to the Government of Western Australia extending the project's operation until 2070, provided it consistently reduces operational emissions. [2] The EPA's assessment did not include scope 3 emissions, generated from the combustion of the gas, predominantly in Asian countries. This omission implies that North West Shelf customers worldwide will emit approximately 80.19 million tonnes of carbon annually. [2]

In 2023, the Climate Council reported that Woodside was the second-biggest emitter among fossil fuel corporations, after Chevron, having produced 47.5 million tonnes CO22 since 2016. [31] The CER listed Woodside as 7th biggest greenhouse gas-emitter in Australia in the financial year ending 2023. [32]

In December 2024, after a six-year approval period, an extension until 2070 was granted to the project by the state government. [33] However, by April 2025, the Commonwealth government had postponed a decision on the approval of the extension of the North West Shelf until after the 2025 federal election. On 28 May 2025, the same day UNESCO declined the World Heritage Listing due to damage to rock art from emissions, Federal Environmental Minister Murray Watt approved the Gas Plant to operate for another 45 years. This drew heavy criticism from the Traditional Owner community and environmentalists. [10] [34] Watt said that he had not been required to consider the impact on climate change, which is not grounds to refuse or limit a development application under the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act). Scientists and environmentalists said that the extra 45 years could add to up to six billion tonnes of greenhouse gases, the majority of which would be emitted after the gas was burned in countries to which it was exported. Larissa Waters, leader of the Australian Greens, said that the decision had meant that there was no prospect of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. [28] In 2025, the gas plant is the third-largest emitter in Australia. [13] While the environment minister can veto major projects using the EPBC Act, if they would impact "matters of national environmental significance" (including protected plants, animals, and ecosystems), climate change is not a factor in the legislation. There have been calls to change the EPBC Act to include a climate trigger since at least 2005, when Albanese himself (then Shadow Environment Minister) proposed such a measure. [13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Watt, Murray (28 May 2025). "Statement on the North West Shelf Gas Processing Project". Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 De Kruijff, Peter (30 June 2022). "Watchdog greenlights Australia's most polluting project to run to 2070". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Hay, Colin (27 May 2025). "Green light for North West Shelf gas extension likely despite environmental pushback". Small Caps. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 "North West shelf Natural Gas Project". Engineers Australia . Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  5. ↑ Murray, Robert (1991). From the Edge of a Timeless Land: A History of the North West Shelf Gas Project. Allen & Unwin, Sydney. p. 188. ISBN   0-04-442295-4.
  6. 1 2 "North West Shelf > overview". Woodside Energy. Archived from the original on 25 May 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  7. ↑ "Participants". North West Shelf Gas. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  8. ↑ "BHP Petroleum merger with Woodside". 2022. Archived from the original on 10 December 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  9. 1 2 "North West Shelf Project Extension". EPA Western Australia . Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  10. 1 2 Pin, Phoebe; Stanley, Michelle (28 May 2025). "Climate advocates devastated after Woodside North West Shelf project approved until 2070". ABC News . Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  11. 1 2 Johnson, Kema; Johnston, Greig (28 May 2025). "What Murray Watt's North West Shelf gas decision means for Woodside's WA operations". ABC News . Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  12. ↑ "Woodside Petroleum Cancels Onshore L.N.G. Project in Australia". The New York Times . 12 April 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  13. 1 2 3 Lauder, Jo (30 May 2025). "Australia just approved Woodside's gas project until 2070. How could it happen?". ABC News . Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  14. 1 2 3 Verrender, Ian (29 May 2025). "Gas or hot air? Can Woodside lower energy prices and save the planet?". ABC News . Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  15. ↑ (2004) North Rankin A - life extension project. North Rankin `A' Platform (North West Shelf, W.A.)Trunkline, June 2004, supplement
  16. 1 2 "Woodside Activity Update" (PDF). June 2016.
  17. 1 2 "NW Shelf Venture Agrees to Replace Cossack Oil Production Ship". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  18. ↑ "North West Shelf Venture Approves North Rankin 2 Project" (PDF). Woodside Petroleum Ltd ASX announcement. 31 March 2008.
  19. ↑ "Withnell Bay LNG Jetty". Dampier Port Authority. Archived from the original on 25 March 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  20. ↑ "North West Shelf Venture". Hydrocarbons Technology. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  21. 1 2 3 The Age, 30 September 2017, How Australia blew its future gas supplies by Tony Wright
  22. ↑ smh.com.au, 9 August 2002, Gas boom as China signs $25bn deal by Tom Allard and John Garnaut
  23. ↑ "About NWSG". North West Shelf Gas Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  24. ↑ Parliament of Australia (2018). "Chapter 6: Preservation and management of rock art". Protection of Aboriginal rock art of the Burrup Peninsula (PDF).
  25. 1 2 "Woodside CEO Admits Removal of Historic Rock Art at Murujuga". Mirage News. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  26. ↑ Elsworthy, Emma (26 April 2023). "'Smoke and mirrors bullshit': Woodside CEO's speech denounced by critics". Crikey. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  27. ↑ Sturmer, Jake (28 May 2025). "UNESCO refers Murujuga World Heritage list bid back to Australia, calls for more protection for rock art". ABC News. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  28. 1 2 Morton, Adam (28 May 2025). "Labor approves extension of Woodside's contentious North West Shelf gas development". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  29. ↑ "Woodside celebrates but environmentalists devastated". ABC listen. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  30. ↑ "Australia's 10 highest greenhouse gas emitters 2020-21". Clean Energy Regulator. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  31. ↑ Introducing the Dirty Dozen: Australia's Filthiest Fossil Fuel Polluters (PDF). Climate Council. 2023. ISBN   978-1-922404-68-8 . Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  32. ↑ "Changes for Australia's top GHG emitters in 2022-23". Latest Market News. 29 February 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  33. ↑ "Western Australia clears Woodside's North West Shelf project extension". Reuters . 12 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  34. ↑ Evans, Jake (28 May 2025). "Woodside's North West Shelf, Australia's largest gas project, approved for life extension to 2070". ABC News. Retrieved 28 May 2025.

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