“Golden Opportunity” for WA to Become Decommissioning Hub
Decommissioning of offshore oil and gas infrastructure in WA offers a wealth of opportunities to deliver benefits at local, regional, and national levels, the Energy Club’s February dinner was told.
Stephen Dawson, the Minister Assisting the Minister for State and Industry Development and Trade, said it has been predicted that around half of all the required decommissioning work – valued at around $60 billion in coming decades – will be undertaken in the next 10 years.
“When we discuss decommissioning, we aren't just talking about wrapping up and dismantling projects,” Minister Dawson said.
“We're talking about laying the foundation for a circular economy that's sustainable, and also forward thinking.
“It's also about building essential infrastructure such as ports and recycling hubs and importantly, it's about the creation of countless job opportunities, and fostering innovative technologies.”
Ahead of a panel discussion involving Exxon Mobil Project Manager Richard Perry, Woodside Decommissioning Delivery Manager Chris See, and Centre of Decommissioning Australia Chief Executive Officer Francis Norman, Mr Dawson said WA and “indeed all Australia has a golden opportunity to both upskill and expand its capacity and capability” in this emerging sector.
“We have the chance to take the lead in executing this monumental task,” he said.
“The Cook Government is already taking steps to ensure that WA is a front runner in the field of decommissioning.
“We launched the LNG Jobs Task Force, which is now a critical component in helping Western Australia to reach its net zero targets. The taskforce is a collaboration between government industry, trade unions, and is working to position Western Australia as the energy hub of the Asia Pacific region.”
The taskforce has updated its priority to include a decommissioning working group, which works with CODA.
Minister Dawson used the WA Energy Club dinner to launch CODA’s Decommissioning Hub Location Study.
“This study really is a shining example of the fruitful collaboration between government and industry,” he said.
The hub study is an evaluation of potential sites on the WA coast and their suitability for use as decommissioning receivable and dismantling yards for offshore oil and gas assets.
- Minister Dawson said the study identified several significant findings.
- There is a substantial decommissioning liability, with about $3.2 billion linked to onshore and disposal of offshore oil and gas assets in WA waters.
- There are multiple locations along the WA coast that have the characteristics essential for establishing onshore decommissioning receival and dismantling yards.
- There is a significant overlap in the specification for onshore dismantling hubs, and for offshore wind staging and decommissioning sites.
He said onshore decommissioning facilities would likely require multiple facilities to contribute to disposal of the offshore assets and may service different parts of the market.
Over the past five years decommissioning has been conducted in the ports of Dampier and Ashburton, Onslow marine support base and the Australian Marine Complex.
The report recommends that improvements to Pilbara port facilities be concentrated on Ashburton and Onslow, which are considered suitable to accommodate the decommissioning market.
Mr Norman told the dinner capacity and capability were among the challenges to a future decommissioning sector in WA.
“With the discussions we have with NOPSEMA there is a commitment from their side, and certainly from the asset owners there is a commitment to get on with this work,” he said.
“Capacity in terms of the industry that we have here is very early in its development and mobilisation.
“When you look at the amount of work that we have coming up in the next two or three years, to get that capacity here is going to be a challenge.”
He said European-based companies were interested in entering the decommissioning sector in WA.
“The clarity we have here is seen as a real incentive for them. They see genuine timelines in the projects we have,” he said.
“These are real players, real technologies, real solutions that we need here to do some of this work and do it well. We have to get them here, get them established and support our own businesses as well.”
Minister Dawson acknowledged that finding workers would be challenge.
“Many of us here struggle to fill the existing jobs that we have in the industry,” he said.
Referencing turmoil in the mining sector, he said the oil and gas sector needed to be ready “to take advantage of a downturn to do micro-credentialing or whatever is required to pivot people from jobs that are going into this new industry”.
Thank you to our February Dinner Event Sponsors; Kent, Xodus and Geo Oceans.