Woodside sold the project to avoid a few hundred million in decommissioning costs. Now its industry will pay the price.

The US-owned company is seeking funds to stay a going concern while it awaits state and Federal approvals.

Mark McGowan warned Alcoa to lift its game or curtail its mining, but his successor, Roger Cook, did the opposite.

UK-listed Georgina Energy plans to drill in the remote Little Great Sandy Desert in search of helium, hydrogen and natural gas.

As the world electrifies, demand for the metal is expected to jump 50 per cent in 15 years.

The project in WA's North West will now chase power sales to Pilbara miners.

WA Labor has used the advantages of incumbency to raise $1.6 million since May, ahead of a by-election in a once safe seat.

Aircraft carrier’s crew in ninth month at sea and has spent record 250 days consecutively without making land

Former Army lawyer David McBride has been released from prison after serving his full two years and three months non-parole period.

INPEX has spilled oil into Darwin Harbour, exposed offshore workers to dangerous mercury, and been prosecuted for under-reporting toxic emissions by more than 100-fold, all in the past 12 months.

Far from sulking on the sidelines, Husic has turned into the chief irritant within Labor’s caucus and, at this week’s national conference, the lead advocate on issues of importance to the Labor base.

Alcoa raised hopes that the jarrah forest inland from Perth would escape its bauxite strip mining, but the US miner is keeping its options open

The failure of Cliff Head's owners, Pilot Energy and Triangle Energy, to meet payroll does not bode well for their ability to pay the $200 million decommissioning cost.

Pilot Energy and Triangle Energy - two listed minnows with no revenue - may struggle to afford to decommission the Cliff Head platform off the WA coast.

INPEX bypassed equipment and ignored procedures agreed with the regulator that together were meant to keep the toxic metal contained.

The US company will have a monopoly over WA bauxite mining and alumina refining, which it plans to operate for 40 years.

France has issued red heatwave alerts for around half the country as temperatures soar to record levels.

Wheatstone down • Browse sunk costs mount • Telupac

The Premier’s threat to frack the Kimberley if Woodside’s Browse is blocked is nonsense as he exempted it from his export ban.

Australia's most gas-dependent state can be well supplied for decades without drilling near Scott Reef or fracking the Kimberley, according to an exclusive analysis by Boiling Cold.

Pressure grows on Alcoa over strip-mining of Western Australian jarrah forest, which also threatens Perth’s water supply * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast US mining company Alcoa’s strip-mining of Western Australia’s jarrah forest is under further investigation after its “deliberate repeat breach” of environmental laws that destroyed habitat for protected species – including black cockatoos, quokkas and numbats – and cost it $40m to avoid prosecution. The ongoing inquiry into Alcoa’s clearing at its Willowdale mine was revealed in talking points for federal ministers prepared ahead of the February announcement of a record $55m settlement for clearing at its Huntly mine. Continue reading...

Alcoa acknowledged it destroyed the known habitat of protected species, including black cockatoos, quokkas and numbats.

Campaign groups say the company’s disaster-relief fund for outback communities during 2025 flooding came with strings attached.

Santos is battling blocked heat exchangers, failed subsea valves, and faulty safety doors 285km north of Darwin so it can reap the reward of high gas prices in Asia.

The US miner is also facing declining production and delayed approvals in WA, where it mines three-quarters of its bauxite.

Former Treasury secretary says a tax rate was ‘socially optimal’ in submission to a new parliamentary inquiry * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The former Treasury secretary Ken Henry says “self-serving” claims from gas giants about the risks of a windfall profits and export taxes should be ignored by the Albanese government as it weighs up the intervention ahead of next month’s federal budget. In a submission to a new parliamentary inquiry examining the gas taxation regime, Henry made the case for a 100% windfall profit tax as he rejected the assertion that any changes would heighten perceptions of Australia as a sovereign risk and freeze investment in new projects. Continue reading...

Cyclone Narelle has shut down Jadestone Energy's Stag oil field, that now has a sinking mooring for oil tankers and damaged casings around wells drilled from the platform. A number of industry sources told _Boiling Cold_ that the cyclone left Stag, 60km north west of Dampier, with a CALM buoy that has lost buoyancy, and conductors that extend 70 m from the platform deck to the seabed, requiring repairs. The UK-listed and Singapore-headquartered company may not have fully disclosed the cyclone's full impact to offshore regulator NOPSEMA. A NOPSEMA spokeswoman said the company reported that the CALM buoy was damaged, but it was "following up with Jadestone regarding damage to other safety-critical equipment to understand the circumstances, including whether all relevant reporting obligations have been met," she said. "As part of normal practice, NOPSEMA will investigate where the need arises, and where there is potential non-compliance, appropriate regulatory action will be taken." ****Oil is continuously loaded onto a tanker connected to the CALM buoy.**** Image: Stag Environment Plan The CALM buoy sits about 2km from the Stag platform, tethered to the seabed with six chains. It allows oil to continually flow from the platform to a waiting oil tanker. The platform cannot store oil, so there can be no production until the CALM buoy is retrieved and then repaired or replaced. The buoy has six watertight compartments and is designed to remain stable if one is flooded, according to the Stag environment plan, indicating that more than one compartment has been breached. ****Stag's CALM buoy can secure 150,000 tonne tankers****. Image: ONA Consultants Jadestone told investors on March 30 that Stag was damaged after winds from Cyclone Narelle exceeded 200 km/hr, but released no details. Jadestone started shutting down Stag on March 23, and pipelines were cleared of oil and workers moved to shore. A spokeswoman told _Boiling Cold_ that while its damage assessment was continuing, "there has been a partial loss of buoyancy in the CALM buoy and damage to some of the well conductors." "We will provide an update in due course when further information is available." The NOPSEMA spokeswoman said Cyclone Narelle was an extreme storm running down the coast of WA, impacting many offshore facilities. "The industry activated cyclone preparedness plans immediately, and no injuries or major environmental incidents have been reported," she said. Jadestone is claiming insurance for the damage to Stag and the cost of lost production and does not expect Cyclone Narelle will have a material financial impact. Doubling of mercury emissions from Alcoa Wagerup prompts appeals“The government is allowing Alcoa to do whatever they friggin want,” according to a long-term campaigner for better regulation of WA’s alumina refineries.Boiling ColdPeter Milne ## An Australian oil portfolio with a big clean up bill Jadestone produced 11,000 barrels of oil a day in Australia in 2024 from three projects that together impose a $US438 million ($614 million) clean-up liability on it. The $277 million company's other Australian interests are the Montara oil field it owns and operates in the Timor Sea and a 33 per cent stake in some Carnarvon Basin oil fields operated by Woodside. Jadestone, then called Mitra Energy, bought Stag off Santos in 2016 for $US10 million ($14 million). Stag has been in the red for each of the five years to 2024, according to accounts filed with corporate regulator ASIC, with a total loss of $US63 million ($88 million). During that time, annual daily production has fluctuated between a high of 2,672 barrels a day in 2023 to a low of 2,005 barrels a day in 2024. Stag contributes about five per cent of Jadestone's production. Jadestone has recorded a $US127 million ($179 million) liability for decommissioning Stag and expects work to begin in 2036. The accounts note that this estimate assumes some equipment can be left on the seabed based on past decisions by NOPSEMA despite "under Australian legislation, complete removal of offshore assets is mandated." Montara produced 5262 barrels of oil a day in 2024 and made a loss of $US15 million ($21 million), according to the latest annual report filed with ASIC. In September 2025 NOPSEMA directed Jadestone to urgently address corrosion on its 36-year-old Montara Venture oil vessel which "may pose significant safety and environmental risks." Production from Montara was threatened by industrial action by workers for Jadestone subcontractor Legineering just as oil prices are at record highs. However, the union Offshore Alliance announced on Monday that its members had accepted a pay rise deal. Jadestone has a provison of $US201 million ($282 million) for decommissioning Montara and expects work to start in 2031. Jadestone slammed for dangerous corrosion in WA oil vesselNOPSEMA has ordered Jadestone to urgently address corrosion on its aged Montara Venture oil vessel in the Timor Sea, which “may pose significant safety and environmental risks.”Boiling ColdPeter Milne In 2022 Jadestone bought a one-sixth share of the Cossack, Wanaea, Lambert and Hermes (CWLH) oil fields fom BP and in early 2024 doubled its stake with a purchase from Japan Australia LNG, a Mitsui and Mitsibishi joint venture. In 2024 Jadestone's share of production averaged 3711 barrels of oil a day and it made a $US36 million ($50 million) profit from CWLH. It has provisioned $US110 million ($154 million) for its share of the cost of decommisioning from 2037 onwards. Like Stag, this estimate assumes NOPSEMA will allow some equipment to be left in the ocean. Jadestone has contributed $US169 million ($237 million) to a trust fund to cover this future cost at CWLH. The CWLH fields are not curently producing as the Okha production vessel sailed to Singapore for planned maintenance in January. Jadestone Energy's Australian subsidiaries have entered into a deed poll with the the Australian Government to ensure ithe decommissioning costs will be paid when they arise. The parent company must provide financial security to the Government when its future after tax tax flow is no longer 25 per cent higher than its decommissioning liability.

"The government is allowing Alcoa to do whatever they friggin want," according to a long-term campaigner for better regulation of WA's alumina refineries.

Santos' $33 million of company tax in 10 years is less than one-thousandth of its Australian revenue, according to Market Forces.

What the Albanese government is proposing is not evidence-based, and it will not reverse the normalisation of gambling among young people

Santos' Varanus Island is not producing gas. Nor are the shuttered North West Shelf and Wheatstone plants.

As Asia scrambles for gas, another Australian gas export plant is out of action.

The troubled $6 billion flagship will be out of action "for a number of weeks," just as Santos' customers are desperate for gas to replace supply from the Middle East.

The shutdown of the Yara Pilbara plant comes as a quarter of global trade in ammonia, used for urea fertiliser and mining explosives, is blocked by war.

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Documents show Water Corporation was locked out of Alcoa’s mining sites in state forest, while several state government departments were also keeping them in the dark.