Australian oil and gas company Woodside Energy received final environmental approval for the extension of its North West Shelf project, the Australian government announced on September 12.

The final approval from Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water concludes a lengthy, six-year approvals process of extensive assessment and appeals. The proposed approval for the extension was announced in May.

The approval is subject to strict conditions including the requirement for the facility to reduce its emissions every year and reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as part of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Safeguard Mechanism.

“This final approval provides certainty for the ongoing operation of the North West Shelf Project, so it can continue to provide reliable energy supplies as it has for more than 40 years,” Woodside Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Liz Westcott said in a statement.

The extension approval means that the North West Shelf gas processing plant located in Karratha, in the state of Western Australia can continue to operate until 2070.

The facility is Australia’s biggest LNG export terminal and was the country's flagship facility, built at a cost of AUD34bn ($22bn).  The project commenced the shipping of LNG cargoes to international buyers in 1989.

To date, the Perth-headquartered company’s facility has shipped over 6,500 LNG cargoes overseas.

The announcement comes less than a week after reports emerged that Shell is considering offloading its 16.67% stake in the project, which is valued at more than $3bn.

In 2024, Woodside raised its holding to 50% after acquiring Chevron’s share in exchange for Woodside’s 13% non-operated interest in the Wheatstone project located in Talandji and 65% operated stake in the Julimar-Brunello Phase 3.

The North West Shelf boasts five liquefaction trains and can produce more than 16mn tonnes per year (tpy) of the super-chilled fuel.