PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Oil and gas major Woodside has been granted environmental approval for its Scarborough development, in Western Australia.

The company on Wednesday said that following an assessment by the state’s Environmental Protection Authority, Minister for Environment Amber-Jade Sanderson granted approval of the near-shore proposal, subject to a number of conditions.

The approval allows for the installation of a 32-km section of the Scarborough trunk line within state waters, along with associated activities required to construct the trunk line.

Woodside acting CEO Meg O’Neill welcomed the Minister’s decision to approve the proposed Scarborough development activities in state waters.

“This is an important regulatory milestone as we now have both Commonwealth and state primary environmental approvals in place to support a final investment decision for the Scarborough development.

“Scarborough gas contains negligible reservoir carbon dioxide. Combined with the adoption of best available proven technology in design at Pluto Train 2, these developments will be amongst the lowest-carbon liquefied natural gas (LNG) sources globally for Woodside’s North Asian customers,” she said.

Extensive stakeholder consultation has been completed on the near-shore proposal, including a four-week public review of the draft dredging and spoil disposal management plan. Extraction and processing of the Scarborough field gas in Commonwealth waters was assessed separately under the Scarborough offshore project proposal and was accepted by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority in March 2020.

Woodside is proposing to develop the Scarborough gas resource through new offshore facilities connected by an approximately 430 km pipeline to a proposed expansion of the existing Pluto LNG onshore facility.

Expansion includes modifications to the existing Pluto Train 1, construction of a second gas processing train and additional domestic gas infrastructure.

Woodside is targeting a final investment decision for Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 in the second half of 2021.

The company recently flagged a 5% increase in the capital cost estimate for the Scarborough development, which is now estimated to require a $12-billion capital investment, comprising a $5.7-billion investment for the offshore component and a $6.3-billion investment for the onshore component.