Australia's Woodside plans CCS for Browse gas project

: Emissions, Natural gas
24/05/21

Australian independent Woodside Energy is planning a carbon capture and storage (CCS) element for its Browse gas project offshore Western Australia (WA), but blamed stalled approval processes for the slow progress.

The North West Shelf (NWS) life extension — which was first referred to regulators in 2018 — needed to be approved before Browse could progress further, chief executive Meg O'Neill said at the Australian Energy Producers conference held in WA's capital Perth this week. The life extension would allow the joint venture and third-party users to use the NWS project facilities until around 2070.

WA's Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) recommended that the NWS life extension be approved in 2022, if it reduces its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net zero by 2050. But the process remains incomplete, awaiting state and federal ministers' decisions and a final issuance of conditions for the project.

WA's Office of the Appeals Convenor is still working through responses to the EPA's recommendation, which it must then report to the environment minister alongside its own recommendations, a process which was interrupted by the resignation of a senior bureaucrat last year.

Woodside wanted to progress the CCS side of the Browse project before the end of 2024, O'Neill said, but the lack of certainty regarding approval timelines affected other elements of the project.

"We've been working closely with the [federal government], state regulators and the Browse JV on the right approach to the environmental approvals, there are a couple of possible pathways that we are evaluating and we hope to be lodging the requests for approving that element of the project within this year," O'Neill said on 21 May. "But part of why we've been very disciplined in our work on Browse and not ramped up engineering work is because it is very difficult to get line of sight for when we'll get those approvals. With personnel changes at the appeals convenor we really don't have very good line of sight unfortunately."

The 368bn m³ Browse development is considered critical to WA's future as a major LNG exporter and could provide long-term certainty for the 16.9mn t/yr NWS LNG, where partners have already signalled they will close a 2.5mn t/yr train later this year.

Average gross GHG emissions from the three Browse fields are between 6.4mn-6.8mn t/yr with an additional 7.7mn t/yr once Browse gas is liquefied, resulting in total emissions of 14.1mn-14.5mn t/yr of CO2 equivalent, according to the environmental impact statement Woodside released in 2022. This necessitates a CO2 solution for it to progress under Canberra's net zero scope 1 emissions rule instituted last year.

By Tom Major

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25/05/14

Mauritania weaves GTA project into industrial strategy

Paris, 14 May (Argus) — Offshore gas production could help to meet Mauritania's power demand by 2030 while also supporting mining activity, particularly of iron ore, energy minister Mohammed Ould Khaled told the Invest in African Energy forum today. BP last month loaded the first LNG shipment from its 2.7mn t/yr Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) joint venture in Mauritanian and Senegalese waters. GTA is export-oriented, but Mauritania could still tap the project for power, Khaled said, although he added that infrastructure would need to be built to facilitate this. A tender to build a power plant fired by GTA gas will be launched in the next couple of weeks, he said. Mauritania wants to become a regional power hub within 20 years, Khaled said, and hopes to see construction of a power link "to the north" — in the direction of Western Sahara/Morocco. The Mauritanian power grid is already connected to Senegal and Mali, he said. Future power generation projects will be funded by the private sector and incentivised through tax breaks, Khaled said, with 550MW set to become available to the domestic market through private-sector projects over the next couple of years. Mauritania is also looking for partners to develop the 50 trillion-60 trillion ft³ Bir Allah gas field for export and domestic markets. The area lies 50km north of GTA and exclusively in Mauritanian waters, according to Khaled, with two wells already having been sunk. Bir Allah is "three times bigger than GTA", he said. BP and Kosmos Energy signed an exploration and production-sharing agreement for the site in late 2022 , with BP saying gas from the field will be used to expand GTA to 10mn t/yr. It is unclear whether BP or Kosmos Energy are still partners in the Bir Allah development project. By George Maher-Bonnett Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Aramco eyes stake in Australia's Louisiana LNG project

25/05/14

Aramco eyes stake in Australia's Louisiana LNG project

Sydney, 14 May (Argus) — Australian independent Woodside and Saudi state-owned oil firm Aramco have entered into an agreement for Aramco to possibly buy a stake in Woodside's 16.5mn t/yr Louisiana LNG project and to explore other opportunities, including lower-carbon ammonia. As part of the non-binding agreement, Aramco could buy an equity interest in and LNG offtake from its Louisiana LNG project, Woodside said without disclosing further details. This comes after Woodside reached a final investment decision on the project in late April. Woodside and Aramco signed the agreement in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia at the Saudi-US investment forum , which was attended by Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and US president Donald Trump. The collaboration shows Woodside's Louisiana project is generating interest among "high-quality potential investors," Woodside's CEO Meg O'Neill said, after selling 40pc of the project's infrastructure to US-based investment firm Stonepeak in early April. The agreement will also help the firm build a more diverse portfolio, as it branches into chemical production, O'Neill said. The firm's wholly-owned Beaumont New Ammonia project in Texas is expected to produce first ammonia in the second half of this year, and lower-carbon ammonia by the second half of next year. By Grace Dudley Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

NRG to buy gas power plants in $12bn deal

25/05/13

NRG to buy gas power plants in $12bn deal

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US clean energy groups decry House budget bill

25/05/13

US clean energy groups decry House budget bill

Houston, 13 May (Argus) — Renewable sector advocates are warning that changes to federal incentives for clean energy proposed by Republicans will undercut the growth of new generation as demand on the power grid escalates. Industry groups representing wind and solar companies were quick to critique the House Ways and Means Committee's portion of Republicans' budget bill for its potential to undercut President Donald Trump's objective of "energy dominance" by reducing the viability of resources on which the US will depend in the coming years. The Ways and Means proposal "simply goes too far too fast", according to Jason Grumet, chief executive of the trade group American Clean Power Association. "With energy demand surging, this is not the time for disruption," Grumet said. "It is possible to phase out incentives for clean energy investment, production and manufacturing without harming American consumers or businesses." The Ways and Means bill would begin to sunset the 45Y production tax credit (PTC) and 48E investment tax credit (ITC) after 2028, with incentive values decreasing by 20 percentage points/yr from 2029 to 2031 before disappearing entirely in 2032. Moreover, the bill moves a key goalpost by pinning eligibility for both the PTC and ITC to a project's in-service date, rather than when it begins construction, which is currently the relevant deadline. At present, the PTC and ITC will remain at current levels until the end of 2032 or when regulators determine that annual US electricity sector emissions are equal to or less than 25pc of their 2022 level, whichever comes later. Democrats who passed the law in 2022 intended the minimum 10-year window to give developers certainty when investing in projects, shifting from past practice when Congress often waited until the last minute to extend earlier versions of the incentives. In addition, the Ways and Means bill would cancel the advanced manufacturing production credit, also known as the 45X credit, after 2031, rather than 2032, while completely disqualifying wind components after 2027. At present, wind turbine blades, nacelles and towers receive credits of 2¢, 5¢ and 3¢, respectively, multiplied by the total capacity, on a per watt basis, of the completed turbine in which those components are used. Offshore wind foundations receive similar incentives. The legislation would also remove the ITC for residential clean energy installations after this year, up from 2034. The bill also would repeal credit " transferability " two years after the law takes effect for the PTC and ITC, and at the end of 2027 for the 45X credits, and restrict projects' eligibility for all three credits if its construction includes "material assistance from a prohibited foreign entity". Republican lawmakers wrote their proposed changes with an eye on saving billions of dollars that they could use to partially offset over $5 trillion in expected tax cuts. But the updates would be particularly harmful for "local, red-state economies", according to Solar Energy Industries Association chief executive Abigail Ross Hopper. Over three-fourths of factories and investments threatened by the changes are located in regions represented by Republicans, and the changes will force "hundreds" of factories to close, raise electricity bills and damage grid reliability, she said. The loss of the manufacturing credits could be particularly harmful to the offshore wind industry's supply chain, "threatening billions of dollars of investments in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and American South", according to Stephanie Francoeur, senior vice president of marketing and communications at offshore wind business group the Oceantic Network. By Patrick Zemanek Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US budget bill would prolong 45Z, boost crops

25/05/13

US budget bill would prolong 45Z, boost crops

New York, 13 May (Argus) — A proposal from House Republican tax-writers would extend for four additional years a new tax credit for low-carbon fuels and adjust the incentive to be more lenient to crops used for biofuels. Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday introduced their draft portion of a far-reaching budget bill, which included various changes to Inflation Reduction Act clean energy subsidies. But the "45Z" Clean Fuel Production Credit, which requires fuels to meet an initial carbon intensity threshold and then ups the subsidy as emissions fall, would be the only incentive from the 2022 climate law to last even longer than Democrats planned under the current draft. The proposal represents an early signal of Republicans' plans for major legislation through the Senate's reconciliation process, which allows budget-related bills to pass with a simple majority vote. 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The spread between soybean oil and heating oil futures is then highly influential for the cost of D4 biomass-based diesel RIN credits, which are crucial for biofuel margins and have recently surged in value to their highest prices in over a year. The more lenient carbon accounting will also help farmers eyeing a long-term future in renewable fuel markets and will support margins for ethanol and biodiesel producers reliant on crops. Corn and soy groups have pushed the government for less punitive emissions tracking, worried that crop demand could wane if refiners could only turn a profit by using lower-carbon waste feedstocks instead. The House bill, if passed, would still run up against contradictory incentives from other governments, including SAF mandates in Europe that restrict fuels from crops and California's efforts to soon limit state low-carbon fuel standard credits for fuels derived from vegetable oils. By Cole Martin and Matthew Cope Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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