Located in the offshore Carnarvon Basin in Australia, the Scarborough field is part of the Greater Scarborough gas resource
Woodside owns majority stake in the Scarborough project. (Credit: C Morrison from Pixabay)
Australian offshore oil and gas safety regulator National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) has approved the Woodside’s Offshore Project Proposal (OPP) for the Scarborough gas field development.
The initial regulatory approval follows completion of potential environmental impacts assessment over the life of the project.
A primary Commonwealth environmental assessment document for the Scarborough project, the OPP forms the basis for Environment Plans, which is also subject NOPSEMA approval.
Woodside to work on future activities at Scarborough project
Woodside will now work on future activities including the drilling of the gas wells, installation of the floating production unit and pipeline installation.
Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said NOPSEMA’s acceptance of the OPP was a significant step forward for the proposed development of the Scarborough gas resource, which is now being progressed on a revised schedule due to the current uncertain global investment environment.
“Although we are now facing challenging market conditions due to the impact of COVID-19 and volatile oil prices, Scarborough is a world-class resource which we plan to develop at a globally competitive cost through our proposed Burrup Hub.
“Woodside is continuing work to ensure we have all the necessary regulatory approvals and commercial agreements in place to ensure a final investment decision can be taken for Scarborough in 2021.”
Last year, Woodside has increased the estimated contingent resource (2C) dry gas volume of the Scarborough field by 52% from the original estimate of 7.3 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) to 11.1Tcf.
Woodside owns 73.5% stake in the field while the remaining 26.5% interest is held by BHP.
Located in the Carnarvon Basin, about 375km west-north-west off the Burrup Peninsula, Scarborough is part of the Greater Scarborough gas fields. The other fields that make up the Greater Scarborough resource are the Thebe and Jupiter fields.