Image courtesy of Woodside
Woodside has received approval by Australia’s offshore regulator Nopsema to move forward with its postponed Scarborough gas development off Western Australia.
The Scarborough gas resources would undeprin an expansion of Woodside’s Pluto liquefied natural gas facility located on the Burrup peninsula.
Nopsema has accepted the Scarborough offshore project proposal (OPP), following its assessment of the potential environmental impacts over the life of the project, Woodside said in a statement on Thursday.
The OPP is the primary Commonwealth environmental assessment document for the Scarborough project in Commonwealth waters and forms the basis for future activity-specific environment plans, which must also be assessed and approved by Nopsema.
Future activities include the drilling of the gas wells, installation of the floating production unit and installation of the pipeline, Woodside said.
Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said Nopsema’s approval was a significant step forward for the proposed development, 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,” he said.
Coleman added that Woodside will continue to work to ensure all approvals and commercial agreements are in place for a final investment decision to be taken in 2021.
The Scarborough field contains an estimated dry gas volume of 11.1 trillion cubic feet.