Western Australian Minister for the Environment, Hon. Amber-Jade Sanderson, has granted environmental approval of the State waters (nearshore) component for Woodside’s proposed Scarborough development.

Following assessment by the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority, on 11 August 2021, the Minister granted approval of the nearshore proposal, subject to conditions, under Section 45 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986.

Ministerial Statement 1172 authorises the installation of an approximately 32-kilometre section of the Scarborough trunkline within State waters, together with associated activities required to construct the trunkline.

Woodside Acting CEO, Meg O’Neill said it is an important regulatory milestone to receive the approval.

“We now have both Commonwealth and State primary environmental approvals in place to support a final investment decision (FID) for the Scarborough development,” Ms O’Neill said.

Extensive stakeholder consultation has been completed on the nearshore proposal, including a four-week public review of the draft Dredging and Spoil Disposal Management Plan.

Extraction and processing of the Scarborough field gas in Commonwealth waters was assessed separately under the Scarborough Offshore Project Proposal and was accepted by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority in March 2020.

Woodside is proposing to develop the Scarborough gas resource through new offshore facilities connected by an approximately 430-kilometre pipeline to a proposed expansion of the existing Pluto LNG onshore facility.

Expansion includes modifications to the existing Pluto Train 1, construction of a second gas processing train (Pluto Train 2) and additional domestic gas infrastructure.

Woodside is targeting a FID for Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 in the second half of 2021.