Browse to NWS Project

For more information, refer to the environmental impact assessment in the Proposed Browse to North West Shelf Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environment Review Document.

In conjunction with leading Australian academic and research organisations, the Browse participants have funded environmental research and studies for over three decades to better understand the offshore marine environment in the vicinity of the Browse resources. 

As a result of the investment, Scott Reef has one of the most intensive long-term monitoring programs of any Australian reef system.

The project has been designed with multiple layers of protection, monitoring and emergency response designed to help safeguard Scott Reef and the surrounding marine environment in the highly unlikely event of a hydrocarbon spill.

Woodside has committed to using dual pyrotechnic shear ram technology while drilling all wells to significantly reduce the risk of an unplanned release event.

Pyrotechnic shear rams are an additional backup safety system designed to quickly shut in a well during an emergency. They use a controlled charge to drive powerful cutters that slice through the pipe and seal the well in seconds, helping prevent uncontrolled release of oil or gas.

This technology was developed following the Deepwater Horizon incident to address recommendations from the US National Academy of Engineering for a system capable of shearing and sealing pipe under the most demanding well conditions. This technology has also been adopted on drilling rigs used by operators globally.

Additional safeguards, including a capping stack, blow out preventer and detailed response plans, provide further layers of protection and mitigation.

The Browse to NWS proposal has been under assessment since 2018. In the time since, Woodside has continued to collect baseline research data, monitor global best practices for reducing risks to the environment from our activities and adapt our proposal to incorporate this information.

To improve understanding of this possibility, in 2024 and with the emergence of new technology, Woodside conducted higher resolution subsidence modelling that indicated there is a 95% probability that subsidence under Sandy Islet would be less than 3.8 mm over the life of the project.

In conjunction with leading Australian academic and research organisations, the Browse Joint Venture (BJV) has funded environmental research and studies for over three decades to better understand the offshore marine environment in the vicinity of the Browse resources. 

These programs have resulted in more than 70 scientific, peer-reviewed publications in international journals over the last 30 years on the environment and species of the Browse region – their distribution, biology and ecology – which were used in the evaluation of the Browse Project’s environmental impacts and risks.

As a result of the funding by the Browse Joint Venture and others, Scott Reef has one of the most intensive long-term monitoring programs of any Australian reef system.

Globally, CCS has been successfully used for decades, particularly in support of enhanced oil recovery and is now being used for permanent emissions storage.^*

_{* IPCC, 2022. 'Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change', Summary for Policymakers, paragraph C.4.6.} 

The Browse CCS Project would be designed to sequester^* most of the reservoir CO₂ from the project.

The CCS Project is expected to reduce the Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions from Browse by approximately 53 Mt (47%). It will also enable a further reduction of approximately 9 Mt of Scope 3 GHG emissions from reservoir CO₂ that would otherwise be sent to the North West Shelf onshore processing facilities. 

^{* Sequestration refers to the practice of storing CO₂ after it's captured from industrial facilities and power plants or removed directly from the atmosphere (www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainscarbon-sequestration).}

The nearest drilling would occur approximately 3 km from the reef.

No physical contact is predicted to occur with Scott Reef (above the 75 m water depth). All proposed activities would occur in waters more than 300 m deep.

The closest floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel (a specialised type of ship used to process and store minerals extracted from offshore fields) would be located almost 8 km from the reef and nearly 30 km from the Sandy Islet turtle nesting habitat.

Key commitments are outlined below.

Protecting Scott Reef
A strict exclusion zone will be in place which means that activities will not take place at a water depth above 75 m and not within the reef complex. There will be no drilling, mining or building on the reef. The closest drilling would be approximately 3 km from the reef. Woodside has committed to using dual pyrotechnic shear ram technology while drilling all wells to significantly reduce the risk of an unplanned release event.

Managing disturbance to pygmy blue whales
High noise-generating activities will avoid sensitive foraging periods and permanent equipment is designed to be low- noise generating. Procedures are in place for noise-generating activities, involving detection technologies and measures to pause or modify activities to avoid or minimise disturbance to pygmy blue whales.

Managing disturbance to green turtles
Activities have been modified to reduce light, noise and proximity impacts to green turtles. The nearest drilling activity would be more than 20 km from Sandy Islet, an important green turtle nesting habitat and the nearest production facility would be approximately 28 km away.

Artificial light will be managed so that it is below levels that are likely to result in an impact to marine turtles. No planned flaring will be undertaken at night from drill rigs within State waters. Restrictions on floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) flaring have been proposed to limit potential impacts during turtle nesting season.

Stewardship of Sandy Islet
Recognising Sandy Islet's value, Woodside is committed to monitoring changes to it and remediating any habitat loss to maintain it capacity for turtle nesting.

In conjunction with leading Australian academic and research organisations, the Browse participants have funded environmental research and studies for over three decades to better understand the offshore marine environment in the vicinity of the Browse resources.

As a result of the investment by the Browse participants and others, Scott Reef has one of the most intensive long-term monitoring programs of any Australian reef system.