Regulators approved a major Australian offshore gas project on Tuesday, sparking dismay among environmental and Indigenous groups.
Fuel producer Santos — one of Australia’s largest energy companies — plans to pump gas from wells off the country’s northern coast to processing plants before being moved to tankers for export.
Australia’s offshore petroleum safety and environment regulator listed Santos’ environmental plan for gas production as approved on its website Tuesday.
Clearance of the plan is seen as one of the final hurdles before extraction can begin.
A Santos spokesperson said the Aus$5 billion (US$3.2 billion) Barossa Gas Project remained “on track” to start gas production on budget in the third quarter of 2025, even though it has been repeatedly delayed.
But opponents have raised concerns about its contribution to climate change, ecological footprint and impact on areas of cultural significance.
The pipeline runs close to the Tiwi Islands, a sparsely populated archipelago about 80 kilometres (50 miles) off the coast of Darwin in northern Australia.
Tiwi elder from the Malawu clan Therese Wokai Bourke, said she was “devastated” by Tuesday’s decision.
“I can’t understand how the government can ignore what this gas project will do to our planet. It’s like they don’t care at all,” she said in a statement.
In 2023, a group of Indigenous Australians won a temporary injunction, arguing Santos failed to consider potential damage to heritage areas.
That decision was overturned by a federal court last year.
Australian Conservation Foundation climate programme manager Gavan McFadzean said the project was a “massive climate bomb”.
“Santos plans to extract gas from a delicate and biodiverse marine environment, creating risks for a range of species including sea snakes, turtles, dolphins and whales.”
Kirsty Howey, executive director of Environment Centre NT, said it was “unfathomable” the project had been approved, describing it as “nothing short of a disaster for our climate”.
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