{"id":656413,"date":"2026-05-07T22:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T22:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/656413\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T22:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T22:28:13","slug":"department-plans-decision-on-woodsides-browse-gas-project-as-soon-as-next-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/656413\/","title":{"rendered":"Department plans decision on Woodside’s Browse gas project as soon as next month"},"content":{"rendered":"

Final advice on whether to approve or reject Woodside’s $30 billion proposal to open up the Browse gas basin is to be handed to the environment minister as soon as next month, according to department documents.<\/p>\n

Internal documents released under freedom of information laws reveal the department’s timeline to put a final recommendation report to the minister by mid-to-late 2026, eight years after Woodside first proposed Australia’s largest gas project.<\/p>\n

Woodside’s Browse gas project would produce enough gas every year to power 800,000 homes.<\/p>\n

Decision looms for controversial project<\/p>\n

The proposed offshore platforms and 900-kilometre ocean pipeline off the north-west of Western Australia are fiercely opposed by environmentalists, who warn a spill there would be a disaster for nearby Scott Reef, a habitat for endangered pygmy blue whales and a nesting spot for green turtles.<\/p>\n

The project would also be permitted to operate to 2070, past Australia’s net zero climate deadline of 2050, and would generate an estimated 6.4 to 6.8 million tonnes of CO2 a year, which the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis estimates would represent about 4 per cent of Australia’s emissions by 2035.<\/p>\n

\"Scott<\/p>\n

Woodside recently amended its proposal to move the Browse project further from Scott Reef. (Supplied: Alex Westover)<\/p>\n

A connected carbon capture and storage project, which would prevent an estimated 3 to 4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, has been withdrawn, as Woodside intends to re-submit it under newly rewritten environment laws that could fast-track approval.<\/p>\n

Environment Minister Murray Watt signed off on permissions last year to allow the North West Shelf gas plant to run until 2070, opening the door for Browse, which would use a massive pipeline to send gas from the basin to the Karratha gas plant.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Environment groups have opposed a gas project being established near Scott Reef, a migratory path for whales. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)<\/p>\n

That North West Shelf decision was made a few months behind the department’s schedule, suggesting that while the department has flagged a final recommendation from mid-2026, it could also run behind schedule.<\/p>\n

But in a sign of Woodside’s confidence that the project will proceed, the gas company announced during its quarterly results last week it had picked contractors to begin engineering and design work for the two floating production platforms at Browse.<\/p>\n

Woodside has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

Woodside dodges gas tax that could have killed project<\/p>\n

Yesterday’s announcement of an east coast gas reserve<\/a> will also be welcome news for Woodside, which warned an alternative proposal put by the Greens and independent MPs for a 25 per cent tax on gas exporters would kill Browse.<\/p>\n

“If you were putting that on top of PRRT [Petroleum Resource Rent Tax], if you were putting it on top of corporate income tax, I’m not sure how any project would survive,” Woodside chief financial officer Graham Tiver said last month.<\/p>\n

A Greens-led Senate inquiry report yesterday asked the government to reconsider a gas exporter tax once the conflict in Iran had been resolved and fuel concerns had settled.<\/p>\n

The government rejected the push for a 25 per cent tax on gas exports, in part due to concerns that it could anger trading partners that rely on Australia’s gas, like Japan and South Korea.<\/p>\n

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said yesterday’s announcement to require gas exporters to sell more gas to Australia first would cause a “modest oversupply” that would bring down prices for industry and households, at the cost of reduced margins for gas exporters.<\/p>\n

Gas bills ‘no longer hostage’ to international market under new laws to drop price<\/a><\/p>\n

A new east coast gas reserve will “drive down” prices, according to the federal government and ensure Australia is no longer “hostage” to international markets.<\/p>\n

The reserve does not affect Browse, as it will already be subject to WA’s existing gas reserve policy if it is approved.<\/p>\n

Planning documents show the Browse decision should have been sent for advice from relevant department sections last month in preparation of a final recommendation.<\/p>\n

The department had 33 business days remaining to make its recommendation, though the clock had been stopped while it waited on advice related to pygmy whales and green turtles, which internal documents suggest have been received.<\/p>\n

The timing of the minister’s decision is also dependent on a state-level assessment, which is expected before the federal report.<\/p>\n

Woodside amended its proposal last year to move the Browse project further from Scott Reef, facing a refusal by the WA environment authority.<\/p>\n

Environmentalists argue it still poses an unacceptable risk to the reef.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Final advice on whether to approve or reject Woodside’s $30 billion proposal to open up the Browse gas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,317385,99,28486,75,102215,42688,15854,11053,63780,41754],"class_list":["post-656413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-browse","tag-business","tag-chris-bowen","tag-environment","tag-environment-department","tag-environment-minister-murray-watt","tag-epbc","tag-gas","tag-scott-reef","tag-woodside"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}