Major Woodside gas project paused after Greenpeace protest off Western Australia

Four Greenpeace activists accessed Woodside’s Scarborough floating production unit, a huge offshore facility about 375 kilometres from Western Australia’s northwest coast. Their protest targeted Woodside’s proposed Browse project and its possible effects on Scott Reef and pygmy blue whales.

The activists scaled the 70,000-metric-ton unit and displayed banners reading “Stop Woodside’s Dirty Gas. Save Scott Reef”. Two stayed overnight in temporary hanging tents. Greenpeace said they would occupy the platform for as long as possible.

Woodside called the access unauthorised and temporarily halted pre-commissioning activities. The company said operations remained safely paused on Sunday. The disruption occurred while the nearly completed Scarborough project was being prepared for operation, linking a direct protest at one project to environmental concerns about another.

Woodside is described as an Australian oil and gas giant. It is developing the Scarborough project and has proposed the Browse gas project in Western Australia. The company says Browse would not physically contact Scott Reef above the 75-metre water depth.

Greenpeace is an environmental advocacy group. It organised the platform protest to oppose Woodside’s gas development and raise concerns about possible damage to Scott Reef, a remote coral system and pygmy blue whale foraging area. Its activists displayed banners and occupied the Scarborough unit.

The organisations therefore represent opposing positions in the dispute. Woodside is progressing major offshore gas projects, while Greenpeace is challenging their environmental consequences. The protest temporarily interrupted Scarborough work, and broader concerns about Browse are also being considered through legal action by another conservation organisation.

A floating production unit is a vessel or floating offshore structure used to receive and process oil or gas produced from seabed wells. It can separate, treat, and prepare hydrocarbons for transport while remaining at sea. The article identifies Scarborough’s facility as a semi-submersible unit.

At Scarborough, the floating production unit is part of Woodside’s offshore gas project. The facility weighs 70,000 metric tons and is located about 375 kilometres off Western Australia’s northwest coast. Before production begins, workers carry out pre-commissioning activities to prepare its systems.

The protest interrupted that preparation. Woodside temporarily halted pre-commissioning after activists gained unauthorised access, saying operations remained safely paused. The incident shows how a floating facility can become both a central piece of offshore infrastructure and a visible focus for environmental protest.

Woodside’s Scarborough project is valued at $12.5 billion. The company’s proposed Browse project is much larger in stated resource value, at about $37 billion. Browse is described as Australia’s biggest undeveloped offshore gas resource.

Scarborough’s floating production unit is located about 375 kilometres off Western Australia’s northwest coast. The 70,000-metric-ton unit forms part of the project’s offshore infrastructure. At the time of the protest, the Scarborough project was described as 98% completed.

Although both projects are in the same northwest region, they are more than 1,000 kilometres apart. That distance matters because the protest took place at Scarborough, while Greenpeace’s main environmental concern involved Browse and Scott Reef. The protest therefore connected two separate projects through opposition to Woodside’s wider gas development plans.

Scott Reef matters because it is a remote coral system in the region where Woodside’s Browse project is proposed. The reef is also identified as a foraging area for the endangered pygmy blue whale. Those ecological features make possible damage to the reef a major concern.

Greenpeace staged its protest over fears that Browse could harm Scott Reef. Its activists used the Scarborough platform to display the message “Stop Woodside’s Dirty Gas. Save Scott Reef”. Woodside has said Browse would make no physical contact with the reef above the 75-metre water depth.

The disagreement is about more than direct contact. Greenpeace and other conservation groups are concerned about the project’s wider environmental effects, including carbon emissions. The Australian Conservation Foundation has taken legal action, and the matter is now before the courts, keeping Scott Reef and connected climate concerns in focus.

Greenpeace’s unauthorised access had an immediate operational effect. Woodside temporarily halted pre-commissioning activities at the Scarborough floating production unit. On Sunday, the company said operations remained safely paused while activists occupied the facility.

Four activists had scaled the 70,000-metric-ton unit, and two slept overnight in temporary hanging tents. Their banners called for Woodside’s gas development to stop and urged protection for Scott Reef. Because the activists were on the platform, work could not continue normally.

The protest was not the only challenge facing Browse. The Australian Conservation Foundation launched a legal intervention in June. Its case argues that Browse’s carbon emissions could fuel climate change and damage nature in Western Australia and elsewhere. That legal matter is now before the courts, while Woodside’s projects remain under environmental scrutiny.

Natural gas contains carbon. When gas is burned, that carbon combines with oxygen and forms carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Extraction and processing can also release greenhouse gases, including methane, if gas escapes. These emissions add to the atmosphere’s heat-trapping effect.

The article links Browse’s carbon emissions to climate change. A warmer climate can heat ocean water and increase stress on corals, contributing to mass bleaching events. Bleaching can damage coral ecosystems such as Scott Reef and the Great Barrier Reef. This mechanism explains why emissions matter even when a project avoids physical contact with a reef.

The Australian Conservation Foundation argues that Browse could damage nature in Western Australia and other Australian areas. The Great Barrier Reef avoided an endangered world heritage listing, but UNESCO remained concerned about climate change-fuelled bleaching. Those concerns make emissions a continuing issue for gas projects.