Woodside Energy has withdrawn plans for its huge Browse carbon capture and storage (CCS) project from the Australian government’s environmental approvals process but plans to resubmit it, a spokesperson said on Monday as reported by Reuters.
The federal government’s revamped Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act allows a revised referral to be submitted, the spokesperson said.
- Withdrawal of Woodside’s plan was published on the federal government’s environmental approval register last week.
- “Woodside remains committed to progressing the CCS Project through a transparent and robust environmental assessment process and intends to resubmit the referral as soon as practicable,” the spokesperson said.
- The EPBC Act was reformed last year to streamline approvals and cut red tape while also offering stronger protection for nature, the government said then.
- Woodside has proposed to use the Browse fields off northwest Australia to supply the ageing North West Shelf LNG facility, which received a 40-year life extension to 2070 last year.
- Browse gas contains up to 12% carbon dioxide. In the past CO2 would have been vented to the atmosphere, but under new guidelines the emissions must be managed from start-up.
- Woodside has proposed to inject up to 4 million metric tons a year of CO2 back into the Browse reservoirs and reduce direct emissions by 47%.
- Woodside’s partners in Browse are BP, Japan’s Mitsui & Co and Mitsubishi , and the international arm of PetroChina.
