Woodside executive vice-president Liz Westcott reckons community sentiment about gas is changing for the better — but has warned Australia not to become “paralysed” about decisions.
Ms Westcott said debate about energy was shifting as the community’s focus sharpened on cost of living and energy security. The Federal Government pivoted its stance in May with the release of the Future Gas Strategy, which backed the fuel’s use beyond 2050 in “all credible net zero scenarios”.
That was a boost for WA’s second-biggest export industry, after approval delays and policy changes had sparked growing uncertainty for trading partners and key investors.
Ms Westcott was expected to tell an Energy Club WA dinner on Tuesday night that views on the industry covered the “full spectrum from more gas, to cheaper gas, to cleaner gas, to no gas”.
“Clearly, we are not going to satisfy everyone,” she said.
“And we can’t let this disparity of views paralyse us. If it does, then Australia will miss out on value from its resources.”
Ms Westcott pointed to recent polling which reportedly found 60 per cent of Australians backed the new gas strategy. Just 15 per cent were opposed.
She also acknowledged the need to cut carbon emissions, but argued it was wrong to assume developing new gas fields would be incompatible with decarbonisation.
The view stands in contrast to the State’s environmental movement, which has opposed the multibillion-dollar investment under way at Woodside’s key Pilbara assets on the grounds it was “incompatible” with stopping climate change.
The State’s biggest potential gas project, Browse, also scored a mention.
The $30 billion development would unlock huge reserves off the Kimberley coast and pump the gas to Karratha for export.
But Browse has hit many hurdles, and Woodside has struggled to gets its partners onboard.
Ms Westcott said Woodside’s “Japanese partners and investors are very interested in progress” on the Browse project.
“That development could play a significant role in alleviating a forecast domestic gas shortfall here in Western Australia,” she said. “We continue to work on progressing the commercial arrangements, environmental approvals and decarbonisation solutions to facilitate the Browse development.”
Browse would also help fill capacity at the Karratha gas plant, with one of five processing trains set to be turned off “as early as this year”.