PERTH, May 15, 2026, 04:09 AWST
Woodside Energy Group’s long-delayed Browse LNG plan has moved back into the centre of Australia’s gas-and-climate fight, after fresh reporting on Western Australia’s emissions stance sharpened scrutiny of a project now costed at A$48.7 billion.
The timing is awkward for Woodside. A federal environmental decision track is closing in, and the project sits in a state whose emissions have risen while most of Australia has cut pollution. Guardian Australia reported on May 14 that leaked documents showed Western Australia was preparing to avoid near-term emissions reduction targets, while a Woodside-commissioned model indicated the state was not on course for net zero by 2050 even without Browse.
Browse matters because it is not a side bet. Woodside calls it Australia’s biggest undeveloped offshore gas resource, with a proposed 11.4 million tonnes a year of LNG, LPG and domestic gas, two floating production units and an about 900-km pipeline to the North West Shelf infrastructure at Karratha.
Woodside released a Deloitte Access Economics assessment this week that said Browse could add more than A$141 billion to national GDP and more than A$56 billion in taxes, including A$19.8 billion in petroleum resource rent tax, if it proceeds. Chief Executive Liz Westcott said the project was a “major opportunity” at a time when energy security mattered more, and said the modelling showed Browse could support jobs and government revenue. Woodside
The bill has also grown. Reuters reported the project’s estimated capital expenditure had risen to A$48.7 billion from a 2019 estimate of A$27.3 billion, with a carbon capture and storage component added in 2023. Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, means trapping carbon dioxide and injecting it underground rather than releasing it into the air.
That price tag is why investors are watching the approvals as closely as the politics. Browse is meant to feed the aging North West Shelf LNG plant, which received a 40-year life extension to 2070, but delays have already pushed out development and processing talks. BP, Mitsui, Mitsubishi and PetroChina’s international arm are Woodside’s partners in Browse, giving the decision a wider industry read-through.
Woodside shares ended Thursday at A$30.62 on the ASX, down 0.8%, before Friday trade. The stock has slipped in recent sessions even as the company remains exposed to firmer oil and LNG prices.
Analysts are not lined up in one direction. A recent Investing.com poll of 12 analysts showed a neutral consensus on Woodside, with four buy ratings, six holds and two sells, and an average 12-month target of A$33.205.
The company’s near-term operating story is still anchored by other growth projects. Woodside said in its first-quarter report that Scarborough was 96% complete and targeting a first LNG cargo in the fourth quarter of 2026, while the foundation phase of Louisiana LNG was 24% complete and aimed at first LNG in 2029. Westcott also said Woodside had begun a structured business review to cut complexity and improve capital management.
The risk is that Browse does not move on Woodside’s timetable. ABC reported last week that federal advice on the project could come as soon as next month, while environmentalists argue the amended proposal still poses unacceptable risk to Scott Reef. A connected CCS project had also been withdrawn for resubmission under rewritten environment laws, ABC reported.
Opposition groups are already using Woodside’s own modelling against it. The Conservation Council of WA quoted senior campaigner Greta Carroll as saying the report showed Western Australia was falling behind on climate action and argued the company was drawing the wrong lesson by pressing ahead with Browse.
For Woodside, the next stretch is about more than one permit. Browse would strengthen its long-term gas portfolio alongside Scarborough and Louisiana LNG; a tougher approval path would keep capital, timing and emissions questions hanging over a project the company has been trying to advance for years.
