Woodside receives key primary approvals for $16 billion Scarborough Joint Venture

The $16 billion Scarborough gas project, 375km off the Pilbara coast, has received key primary approvals to construct and operate the pipeline. Woodside announced on April 6 the Scarborough Joint Venture received an offer from the Commonwealth-Western Australian Joint Authority for the pipeline licence to construct and operate the Scarborough pipeline in Commonwealth waters. It also announced the approval for the Scarborough Field Development Plan , enabling Woodside to start petroleum recovery operations from Petroleum Production Licences WA-61-L and WA-62-L. The multi-billion dollar LNG project was signed off by Woodside and BHP in November last year, cementing another 30 years of gas exports from Australia. Woodside will develop the Scarborough gas fields through offshore facilities connected by a 430km pipeline to its Pluto LNG onshore plant near Karratha. The development will also include the installation of a floating production unit with eight wells drilled in the initial phase and 13 wells drilled over the life of the Scarborough field. Woodside chief executvie Meg O’Neill said the pipeline licence and field development plan are among the final primary Commonwealth and Western Australian State Government approvals required to develop the Scarborough resource. “Developing Scarborough delivers value for Woodside shareholders and significant long-term benefits locally and nationally, including thousands of jobs, taxation revenue and energy security here and abroad,” she said. “The Scarborough reservoir contains only 0.1 per cent carbon dioxide, and Scarborough gas processed through the efficient and expanded Pluto LNG facility supports the decarbonisation goals of our customers in Asia.” The project is 73.5 per cent owned by Woodside and 26.5 per cent by BHP and is expected to create about 3200 construction jobs and include the expansion of the Pluto gas processing plant on the Burrup Peninsula.