Greenpeace Scales Woodside Platform in Australia, Halting Gas Operations

Woodside Energy was forced to suspend operations on the floating production unit (FPU) of its Scarborough natural gas project, off the coast of Western Australia, after Greenpeace activists climbed onto the platform to protest against the company's gas development and in defense of Scott Reef.

Four activists arrived on Saturday morning aboard Greenpeace's vessel Rainbow Warrior and climbed onto the 70,000-tonne semi-submersible platform, where they unfurled a 12-by-14-meter banner reading 'Stop Woodside's Dirty Gas. Save Scott Reef.' Two of them spent the night hanging in tents suspended from the structure, while the others returned to the ship. According to Reuters and Splash247, the facility is located about 375 kilometers off the state's northwest coast, while The Maritime Executive placed it about 125 nautical miles from Exmouth.

The occupation ended on Sunday, when police officers arrived by helicopter and removed the protesters who remained on the platform. The Australian Border Force (ABF) reported that the removal operation was completed without injuries and that the two men, aged 48 and 52, were taken to Western Australia for detention. In a joint statement from the ABF, state police and the NOPSEMA regulator, both were charged with interfering with offshore petroleum facilities or operations, an offense carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and were due to appear before the Karratha court on Monday.

Greenpeace maintained that the protest was peaceful and sought to pressure the Australian government to reject Woodside's Browse project, near Scott Reef, which could involve drilling up to 57 wells. The organization warned about the impact the development would have on the pygmy blue whale, sea turtles and other species in the reef's ecosystem. On Monday, it also delivered a 47-meter petition with nearly half a million signatures to Woodside's headquarters in Perth.

Woodside stated that no physical contact with the reef is expected above a depth of 75 meters and noted that Scarborough gas has an unusually low CO2 content, which would result in low-emission LNG for the Asian market. The company described the activists' action as dangerous, reckless and illegal. According to Splash247, the Scarborough project was 98% complete as of late June, with the first LNG cargo scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026; the unit was built by McDermott and CSSC to process gas from the Browse formation, which will be sent to the Pluto LNG plant in the Pilbara region, whose capacity will be expanded with a new liquefaction train to about eight million tonnes per year.