Australian LNG firm Woodside said it has received environmental approval for the nearshore component of its $12 billion Scarborough gas project.
Following assessment by the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority, environment minister Amber-Jade Sanderson on Wednesday granted approval of the nearshore proposal, subject to conditions, according to a Woodside statement.
The approval authorises the installation of an approximately 32-kilometre section of the
Scarborough trunkline within state waters, together with associated activities required to construct the trunkline.
Woodside acting CEO Meg O’Neill said, “this is an important regulatory milestone as we now have both Commonwealth and State primary environmental approvals in place to support a final investment decision for the Scarborough development.”
“Scarborough gas contains negligible reservoir carbon dioxide. Combined with the adoption of best available proven technology in design at Pluto Train 2, these developments will be amongst the lowest-carbon LNG sources globally for Woodside’s North Asian customers,” she said.
Woodside plans to develop the Scarborough gas resource through new offshore facilities connected by an approximately 430 km pipeline to a proposed expansion of the company’s existing Pluto LNG onshore facility.
Moreover, the expansion includes modifications to the existing Pluto train, construction of a second gas processing train and additional domestic gas infrastructure.
Woodside confirmed it is still targeting a final investment decision for Scarborough and the second Pluto train in the second half of 2021.
To remind, the firm has recently raised the cost estimate for its Scarborough gas project by 5 percent to $12 billion.
This includes $5.7 billion for the offshore component and $6.3 billion for the onshore component.
The Scarborough gas resource is located in the Carnarvon Basin, about 375 km west/north-west of the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia.
