Woodside taking Scarborough project forward with acceptance of production licences

Australian energy giant Woodside has confirmed its commitment to taking the delayed Scarborough gas project in Australia forward following the grant of petroleum production licences by Australian authorities.

In an update on Monday, Woodside said that the Scarborough Joint Venture has received offers for the grant of petroleum production licences in respect of the WA-1-R (Scarborough) and WA-62-R (North Scarborough) titles from the Commonwealth and Western Australian Joint Authority.

This follows an agreement reached between Woodside and BHP in February 2020 to align their participating interests across the WA-1-R and WA-62-R titles, resulting in Woodside holding a 73.5 per cent interest and BHP holding a 26.5 per cent interest in each title.

Woodside CEO, Peter Coleman, said on Monday that the Scarborough Joint Venture intends to accept the production licences, demonstrating the strong commitment from both joint venture participants and the State and Federal Governments to taking the project forward.

Coleman said: “The impacts of COVID-19 and the ensuing volatility in market and investment conditions have provided us with an opportunity to review options for the Scarborough development, allowing us to improve execution certainty and increase the value of this world-class resource.

To remind, Woodside in late March 2020 postponed final investment decisions for its Scarborough, Pluto Train 2, and Browse liquefied natural gas growth projects in a response to the oil price crash and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coleman added: “With Production Licences and the Offshore Project Proposal environmental approval in place, Woodside will have secured the key primary Commonwealth approvals required to support a final investment decision”.

Following acceptance, the Scarborough Joint Venture will advance its application for a pipeline licence and submission of the Field Development Plan to the Joint Authority, in readiness for a targeted final investment decision in the second half of 2021, according to Woodside.

In April 2020, the Scarborough Offshore Project Proposal – the primary Commonwealth environmental assessment document for the Scarborough project in Commonwealth waters – was accepted by the Australian regulator NOPSEMA.

Retention lease renewal applications in respect of the WA-61-R and WA-63-R titles for the Thebe and Jupiter fields (part of the Greater Scarborough gas resource) were submitted to the Joint Authority in May 2020 and are currently under assessment.

The Scarborough gas field contains an estimated contingent resource (2C) dry gas volume of 11.1 Tcf.

The field, discovered in 1979, is located off the coast of Western Australia approximately 220 kilometres northwest of Exmouth in 900 meters of water.