Pilot Energy’s Cliff Head Oil Field and offshore well head is located off the North West coast of Western Australia, approximately 20km south-southwest of Dongara. 

Triangle Energy - which previously held a majority stake in Cliff Head - had been transitioning the asset to Pilot for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, which failed to attract funding.  

Yesterday, Triangle Energy requested a trading halt to assess the impact on the sale following Pilot going into voluntary administration on Monday.

The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) said Pilot’s Cliff Head Oil Field project was “a glaring example of a company looking to walk away from its decommissioning responsibilities at any cost”. 

CCWA Executive Director Matt Roberts said that despite warning bells over both Pilot and Triangle’s financial positions, it appears the Federal Government was determined to ensure the project did not fail. 

“We sounded the warning in January this year that Pilot Energy was unlikely to be in a position to progress its risky carbon dumping plans, let alone meet its decommissioning obligations for Cliff Head,” Mr Roberts said. 

“If CCWA could see the risk, what reassurances were given that Pilot would be able to meet its financial commitments - and to whom? Even just for the exploratory CCS phase of the project - which taxpayers funded to the tune of $6.5 million?  

“This now appears to have been nothing more than a cynical attempt to delay decommissioning obligations.  

“Pilot was using taxpayers' money through the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) rebates to do avoid and deflect clean-up works. This is another costly Northern Endeavour disaster waiting to happen,” he said. 

In January this year, CCWA told the federal government’s inquiry into oil and gas decommissioning that the fossil fuel industry must stop evading its responsibility to clean up after themselves in WA waters. 

In the decades to come, Mr Roberts said Australia faced up to $60 billion in decommissioning work, creating a “massive liability for the Australian taxpayer.” 

 "We have billions of dollars of oil and gas decommissioning work which will need to begin by 2030, according to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. 

“More than 5.7 million tonnes of material will need to be removed from our oceans nationally, with 89% of that infrastructure located in WA waters. 

“This level of decommissioning work is a massive liability, and we need to make sure gas companies, not taxpayers, are the ones paying for the clean-up and the loopholes are closed to prevent the offloading of liabilities or delays. 

“There’s a total lack of transparency around decommissioning, which needs to be addressed now to avoid a systemic failure in the process ongoing. 

“We’re calling on oil and gas companies to report on their liabilities project-by-project, to increase accountability and improve accuracy on cost estimates for decommissioning. 

“In addition, we need to end the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax (PRRT) rebate for decommissioning projects, so that multinational companies aren’t using government handouts to clean up after themselves – or, in some cases, getting paid by the taxpayer to do nothing. 

“If it’s done right, decommissioning can be an opportunity rather than a liability. Half of the decommissioning work needed in the next 50 years is due to commence by 2030. 

“The huge volume of decommissioning required is a chance for WA to create local jobs in decommissioning and steel recycling – jobs that are working to protect the environment, rather than destroy it.”  

ENDS