Woodside Energy’s multi-billion-dollar Browse gas project faces severe regulatory jeopardy after Western Australia’s environmental watchdog warned drilling could cause irreversible damage to isolated coral reefs and endangered marine species.
A 2023 draft assessment by the state’s independent Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), revealed by The Guardian Australia, expressed deep misgivings over the proposal to extract gas from fields surrounding Scott Reef, an ecologically critical atoll located more than 400 kilometres north of Broome. According to the document, the regulator advised that the risk of a catastrophic hydrocarbon spill might prove impossible to reduce to an acceptable standard.
Severe spill hazards threaten pristine Scott Reef
The EPA’s preliminary findings cast a dark shadow over Woodside’s offshore ambitions in the Browse Basin, a venture that has languished in development pipelines for more than a decade. The draft letter asserted that the venture could inflict substantial and lasting degradation on Scott Reef’s "exceptional" coral systems, which are among the most remote and biodiverse marine habitats in Australian waters.
The watchdog raised acute concerns regarding the logistical realities of responding to an offshore blowout or surface spill in such an isolated maritime environment. With deep-water currents and unpredictable weather patterns, the authority determined that even comprehensive contingency measures would leave the surrounding ecosystems exposed to catastrophic contamination.
Ineffective safeguards for whales and nesting turtles
Beyond the spectre of an oil spill, the EPA criticised Woodside’s environmental mitigation strategies as inadequate for protecting vulnerable fauna. The Browse development sits squarely within migratory and foraging corridors utilised by pygmy blue whales, while the beaches and waters of Scott Reef provide vital nesting and feeding grounds for endangered green turtles.
The watchdog’s draft assessment concluded that the company’s proposed measures to counter underwater acoustic pollution, industrial vessel movements, and artificial light disturbance would be largely ineffective. Industrial activities over the multi-decade lifespan of the project could disrupt whale navigation and severely inhibit turtle breeding cycles, raising questions about whether the project complies with statutory conservation standards.
Regulatory headwinds for flagship fossil fuel venture
The revelations land as Woodside seeks both state and Commonwealth environmental approvals to pipe Browse gas more than 900 kilometres south to the existing North West Shelf processing infrastructure at the Karratha Gas Plant. As mature gas fields in the region deplete, the company views Browse as a crucial backfill resource to prolong the operational life of its export facilities.
However, the project has faced mounting financial and environmental obstacles. Successive iterations of Browse—ranging from floating liquefied natural gas platforms to onshore processing at James Price Point—have stalled due to commercial hurdles and environmental opposition. The EPA’s candid draft feedback signals that securing environmental clearance under Western Australian and federal laws will require substantial revisions, if approval is feasible at all.
Intensifying scrutiny over corporate emissions profile
The regulator’s appraisal also underscores escalating scrutiny of large-scale fossil fuel extraction across the country. With Browse bearing an unusually high reservoir carbon dioxide concentration, climate analysts and institutional investors have questioned the commercial and environmental viability of proceeding with new offshore basins amid national decarbonisation commitments.
Neither the regulator nor the energy company has formally finalised the environmental review process, with revised assessments still under consideration. Nonetheless, the disclosure of the EPA’s unvarnished early findings poses a significant challenge to the energy giant as it attempts to convince governments and shareholders that its northern development can proceed without inflicting irreparable ecological harm.
