Woodside Gets Regulatory Approval for Scarborough
Woodside April 2 said that the Australian offshore regulator has accepted the Scarborough project proposal.
“Woodside has achieved an important regulatory milestone for its Scarborough gas development offshore Western Australia. The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Nopsema) has advised of its acceptance of the Scarborough Offshore Project Proposal (OPP), following its assessment of the potential environmental impacts over the life of the project,” the company said in a statement.
The OPP is the primary Commonwealth environmental assessment document for the Scarborough project and forms the basis for future activity-specific environment plans, which must also be assessed and approved by Nopsema, Woodside said. Future activities include the drilling of the gas wells, installation of the floating production unit and installation of the pipeline.
Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said Nopsema’s acceptance of the OPP was a significant step forward for the proposed development of the Scarborough gas resource, which is now being progressed on a revised schedule due to the current uncertain global investment environment.
“Although we are now facing challenging market conditions due to the impact of Covid-19 and volatile oil prices, Scarborough is a world-class resource which we plan to develop at a globally competitive cost through our proposed Burrup Hub,” Coleman said. “Woodside is continuing work to ensure we have all the necessary regulatory approvals and commercial agreements in place to ensure a final investment decision can be taken for Scarborough in 2021.”
Last week, Woodside deferred targeted final investment decisions (FID) on Scarborough, Pluto Train 2 and Browse and slashed approximately 50% in forecast 2020 total expenditure in response to uncertain market conditions created by low oil prices and Covid-19 outbreak. Both Scarborough and Browse projects are key to Woodside’s plan to triple its oil and gas reserves in less than a decade.