Browse LNG: Woodside pledges carbon capture and storage still on agenda after withdrawing environmental plans

Woodside Energy says carbon capture and storage remains on the table for the giant Browse project despite withdrawing an application for Federal environmental approval. The $30 billion Browse gas development has been mooted for decades but the remote field faces tough economics and has been controversial due to high carbon emissions. The gas will be piped about 900km to Karratha for processing at the North West Shelf facility, which is set to run until as late as 2070 following a hotly contested approval last year. ASX-listed Woodside has sought to reduce Browse’s environmental impact by pledging to pump about 3 to 4 million tonnes of CO2 underground each year. That will require approval under the Federal EPBC Act, which was lodged in October 2024. Woodside withdrew the project last week but on Monday told The West Australian the CCS plans would be resubmitted under the revised approvals regime which passed Parliament last year. “This is a procedural step and does not reflect any significant change to the nature, scope or intent of the proposed Browse CCS Project,” a spokeswoman said. “Woodside remains committed to progressing the CCS project through a transparent and robust environmental assessment process and intends to resubmit the referral as soon as practicable.” CCS has been the topic of hot debate after the giant storage plant at Chevron’s Gorgon struggled to hit storage targets. It has nonetheless pumped more than 10 million tonnes of greenhouse gases underground. Most international pathways to net zero by 2050 rely on some level of carbon storage. Australian Conservation Foundation climate campaigner Piper Rollins warned CCS was “a risky, unproven sham technology”. “Woodside has been using (CCS) as a smokescreen to try to justify the significant and unavoidable climate pollution that will come from its Browse project,” she said. “This withdrawal, just months after Inpex withdrew an EPBC application for the Bonaparte carbon capture and storage projects, reinforces that CCS is a risky bet — one Australia cannot afford to make if we are to meet our climate targets.” Ms Rollins said the Federal Government needed to impose stronger safeguard limits on LNG industry greenhouse gases. “A couple years ago Woodside was saying CCS at Browse was too hard and too expensive. Then, last year, it flipped, surprising everyone by putting in an EPBC application. “Woodside knows the technology doesn’t do what it claims. This is a blow to Woodside’s plans for Browse.” LNG produces about 8 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, which add to global climate change.