OPERATIONS

Protestor locks onto a barrel at Woodside HQ

A PROTESTOR has locked themselves onto a concrete barrel outside Woodside Petroleum’s headquarters in Perth this morning as demonstrations against the sanctioning of the company’s Scarborough gas development continues.

Sarah Nix attached to a concrete barrel outside Woodside Petroleum's headquarters.

Sarah Nix attached to a concrete barrel outside Woodside Petroleum's headquarters.

Environmental scientist Sarah Nix, part of the Scarborough Gas Action Alliance, placed her arm inside a barrel filled with concret, that features a locking mechanism around her hand once inside.

She told Energy News the carbon emissions and the environmental and cultural heritage destruction meant the Scarborugh's A$16 billion flagship project should not go ahead. 

"I am here because I have no other choice. Woodside and all the other fossil fuel providers need to be stopped. We have no choice but to keep escalating actions to shut down Scarborough Gas," she said. 

She urged Woodside to transition away from fossil fuels into renewables and said the Scarborough development would become a stranded asset and be a subsequent risk to investors. 

Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill said during a teleconference on Tuesday that proceeds from a sell down of its share of Scarborough - which is currently 73.5% but will rise to 100% after the BHP Petroleum merger - could go towards new energy opportunities. 

The AFR reported this morning, that Woodside investors appeared comfortable with the company's decision to go ahead with the development, pointing to the energy crisis unfolding in the Northern Hemisphere as an example that gas would still be needed to balance an increasingly volatile energy market. 

Activists have stepped up their actions against Woodside Petroleum since it sanctioned the development on Monday. 

Yesterday protestors from the same group blockaded the access road to the Burrup Peninsula, home to Woodside's Karratha Gas Plant and Pluto LNG facility. 

The three protestors who locked themselves to a caravan and a 4WD to block the road were removed overnight by police. 

One person was released on bail late last night and bailed until December 8, and two people are still in custody and will appear in Karratha Magistrates Court this morning.

The protestors refuted claims by unions that Woodside workers were endangered yesterday, claiming that an emergency access road was intentionally left open, which was used by the workers leaving.

"The safety of everyone involved - workers, authorities, protesters - has been maintained throughout this blockade to shut down Scarborough Gas," a statement said this morning. 

Separate demonstrators from 350 Boorloo were also outside Woodside Petroleum's offices this morning, aiming to maintain pressure on the company.

350 Boorloo spokesperson Anthony Collins told Energy News that energy security was important and acknowledged shareholders thinking that the Scarborough development would help ensure that. 

"But if these investors and Woodside were to put the same amount of emphasis, and money behind the transition that we actually needed, then I would have absolute faith that we wouldn't be facing an energy crisis," he said. 

He described Woodside's recent concentrated solar research and hydrogen developments as greenwashing.

"I don't think there are too many people who are saying we need to transition tomorrow, but there are already five LNG projects on the go in WA, we don't need another brand new one," he said. 

Currently at peak Pluto will produce 8 million tonnes per annum from Scarborough and O'Neill confirmed Tuesday she is on the hunt for backfill for both Pluto and the next door, ageing North West Shelf, which could see one of the smaller and older of its five trains shut in by 2024. 

Separately, last month, Woodside revised down a large portion of its own Wheatstone LNG reserves, potentially bringing forward its end date. 

Neill said on Tuesday that the Scarborough gas field contains only 0.1% carbon dioxide, and the proposed design from the expanded Pluto Train 2 facility would run on Optimised Cascade technology, operating at a lower emissions intensity. 

"We expect that LNG produced from Scarborough will be a contributor to the decarbonisation efforts of our customers in Asia, particularly given the increased push away from coal," she said. 

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