Woodside’s Burrup Hub gas project is the nation’s biggest fossil fuel threat. If approved, it will jeopardise 54 vulnerable species, spew out 6.1 billion tonnes of CO2 and generate 13 times Australia’s annual emissions.
Our Environment Minister has the power to stop this dangerous project from going ahead and define Labor’s legacy on nature.
Summary: Shut Down the Burrup Hub
Woodside’s Burrup Hub is Australia’s largest proposed fossil fuel project, posing an unparalleled threat to our oceans, wildlife, and climate. Woodside, an oil and gas company renowned for its flimsy environmental and safety record, plans to extract gas from six fields off the coast of Western Australia. The project would involve a 900km pipeline through protected environmental areas, and extend the life of existing gas plants until 2070, undermining our clean energy targets.
A disaster in the making
Carbon costs
Greenpeace’s analysis has revealed that Woodside’s Burrup Hub is Australia’s biggest climate threat, with the project belching out 6.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over its proposed 50-year lifetime.1 The scale of this is off the charts —lifetime emissions from the Burrup Hub would amount to more than 13 times Australia’s annual emissions from all sources, and more than 73 times New Zealand’s annual emissions.2 The increase in greenhouse gases will worsen global heating, intensifying extreme weather events and rising sea levels. At a time when the International Energy Agency and the United Nations have called for developed countries to rapidly phase out fossil fuels to keep the world within 1.5 degrees of warming, the Burrup Hub is incompatible with Australia’s commitment to climate action.
Nature hazards
Drilling for up to 50 gas wells is planned just over 2km from pristine ecosystems such as Scott Reef, home to endangered species like the green sea turtle and pygmy blue whale. Heavy shipping and drilling activities jeopardise whale migration pathways, while gas flaring and lights disrupt turtle nesting. Subsidence is another major concern – where gas extracted from reservoirs causes the
seafloor to sink and threatens Sandy Islet, a critical nesting site for sea turtles that could face ocean inundation.
A disaster, such as an oil spill at a project site, could devastate marine ecosystems and coastlines as far as East Timor and Indonesia, causing lasting environmental damage. This comes after the WA Environmental Protection Authority effectively deemed Browse too risky to proceed.3 In August 2024, a preliminary view from the environmental regulator suggested the proposal was “unacceptable” on nature grounds.
Safety risks
Woodside has a worrying history of neglect, as the company is responsible for at least six major incidents in the last decade, including an explosion, an oil spill, and a whale calf collision. Woodside repeatedly fails to clean up its waste, leaving massive pieces of rusted, toxic infrastructure to rot in the ocean.
