RMIT INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY VIETNAM

Title Page

Subject Code: BUSM2575

Subject Name: Business in Society

Campus where you study (SGS or HN): SGS

Title of Assignment: Written Analytical Report (Individual)

Student Name: Phan Hong Khuong An

Student Number: S3998525

Teacher Name: Qui NN

Group Number: 02

Date of Submission 5 April 2023

Word Count (not including cover page): 1,272 words + 211 words of references
Introduction

Woodside Energy is an Australian company known for offering sustainable oil and gas, as well

as providing safe energy to homes and permitting the industry to generate electricity (Woodside

Energy, 2023). Woodside Energy asserts that it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions while

developing low-carbon services and novel energy products. (Woodside, Climate Report 2021,

pg. 6). The organization is launching one of the biggest environmental projects, "Burrup Hub,"

which is said to extract polluting gas to various gas fields offshore, reducing the amount of

methane discharged into the atmosphere. However, many concerns and questions have been

raised about the initiative as a result of their exploitation and absence of integrity. In this report, I

will investigate and analyze the project and actions of Woodside Energy organization as well as

the challenges that the company is facing. Following my exploration, I will make suggestions for

solutions or various approaches that the company could use to address the issues or change their

behavior towards the approach they are taking.

Context

The "Burrup Hub" is one of Woodside Energy's most significant projects for transforming their

company, people's lives, and the natural environment. With a 31.6 ESG score (Sustainalytics,

2023) to demonstrate their positive effects, they plan to construct two additional gas reserves in

Scarborough and Browse, which will also help to limit global warming to some extent. The

business published an annual report at the end of 2021 that shows an overall profit after taxation

of $1.983 million (Woodside, Climate Report 2021, pg.12), allowing them to invest in

Scarborough Gas Field as a first, which supposedly only contains “0.1% of carbon dioxide and

will be processed through the expanded Pluto LNG facilities” (Woodside, Climate Report 2021,

pg.12). According to the annual report of 2022, net profit has grown by 228%, amounting to $6.5
billion (Woodside, Annual Report 2022, pg.5). The firm has drilled wells into the seafloor and is

pumping gas through pipelines towards the mainland Pluto LNG terminal with the profits made

in 2021 and 2022 (Global Oil & Gas Exit List, updated 2022). According to Meg O’Neill,

Woodside's chief executive, “Woodside would cut its carbon emissions by 30% by 2030 through

improving the efficiency of its processing plants” (Kurmelovs, 2021), implying that their project

would make positive impacts on the world. People say that, contrary to its allegations and

objectives, the project would become the "most emission-heavy new fossil fuel project" (Global

Oil & Gas Exit List, updated 2022). Along with the venture, many other conservation

organizations have studied and investigated the business, reporting increased greenhouse gas

emissions which could devastate habitats for wildlife.

Analysis

Woodside Energy confronts numerous issues and challenges when launching a project with such

high environmental accountability. There are numerous controversies surrounding the business

and the project nowadays. Researchers discovered that one of the most serious issues raised by

their project is the high level of gas emissions that Woodside would emit into the atmosphere. In

direct opposition to the business's intention of being environmentally conscious, the company

causes air pollution rather than having positive environmental effects by dumping

decommissioned drilling platforms off nearby coasts, discharging a massive amount of carbon

dioxide into the environment. Another problem with the "Burrup Hub" is the destruction of

nearby regions such as the Great Barrier Reef by burning extracted gas, resulting in "repeated

coral bleaching events on the reef that would initiate global warming" (Aljazeera, 2022). These

two problems alone are devastating the ecosystems in numerous ways with the contribution of

the stakeholders who are allowing this disaster to happen. Transnational corporations, such as the
Supreme Court or the government officials, are barely helping the community as they approved

the Scarborough expansion after hearing the allegedly positive effects of expanding the project,

"continued to claim that increasing gas exports would reduce emissions in Asia in its application

for its massive AUD $16.5 billion Scarborough liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion."

(Climate News Australia). The broad stakeholders are affected the most by the project's

initiation, as the company harms the surrounding community and ecosystem by exporting burnt

LNG from the Pluto facility into the ambient air. The disposal of decommissioned oil wells, as

well as the location of the Scarborough Field and the pipelines constructed across nations, have

an enormous impact on undersea animals which are also stakeholders as they contribute to the

natural world and are affected by the project. According to research, “The proposal included the

dumping of a compartment, acknowledged to likely contain 295 kilograms of the internationally-

recognised toxin, pentaBDE (PBDE), a substance highly toxic to marine life” (Petrass, 2022),

demonstrating the consequence of the company’s project on Scarborough field, impairing

thousands of homes of the sea animals and leading them to death. According to an article

published by Greenpeace organization, the "Burrup Hub" project is “blasting and dredging

kilometers of seabed, driving giant concrete piles into the ocean floor and dumping millions of

tons of crushed coral and rock” (Greenpeace, 2021), wreaking havoc on Western Australia's

marine fauna by contaminating ecosystems. With such extensive damage, it is claimed that

government officials have yet to intervene and put an end to the issue as a result of the

company's manipulation and assumed positive effects since the start of the project.

Recommendations

Woodside Energy claims to be sustainable in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development

Goals; however, research indicates that instead of addressing the concerns, the company
continues to grow and adds to the pollution crisis. According to an article written by Petrass,

"Woodside Petroleum has been accused of gaslighting the United Nations, the International

Energy Agency, investor groups, and the community's climate concerns, at its "chaotic" annual

general meeting today, where shareholders voted in favor of the fossil fuel giant merging with

BHP" (Petrass, 2022), implying that Woodside is manipulating narrow stakeholders who

financially influence the firm to invest in their project of expanding the Scarborough field and

dumping decommissioned oil rigs into the oceans. To address such concerns, I believe the

company should commit to the Paris Agreement's long-term low-carbon development objectives

by investing a portion of its profits in climate finance and collaborating with similarly

economically viable countries as valuable stakeholders to minimize emissions and assist poorer

countries (United Nations Climate Change). They could also utilize their profits to generate new

technological strategies, in accordance with the Paris Agreement's goal of “realizing technology

development and transfer for both improving resilience to climate change and reducing GHG

emissions” (United Nations Climate Change). With their growing profit each year, I am

optimistic that adhering to the Paris Agreement would be beneficial in restraining temperature

rise and contamination from their construction endeavors if they were to optimize their financial

potential.

Conclusion

Woodside Energy is a worldwide energy company focused on sustainability and the conservation

of the environment. Despite this, numerous accounts have shown that their goals are deceptive

and contradictory to their actions. According to research, Woodside emits a high level of

greenhouse gas emissions into the earth by burning gas in several oceans and disposing of

decommissioned offshore drilling platforms. The business not only harms the environment, but it
also adds to global warming through the "Burrup Hub" on Scarborough Field. Along with the

problem raised, there have been numerous allegations of the business manipulating stakeholders

to invest in their project, thereby contributing to environmental corruption. Nonetheless, there

are many resolutions to their issue, which involves one of them making use of their profits to

limit global warming and decrease emissions under the Paris Agreement. With the profits they

generate each year, following the UNSDGs objectives and supporting other poorer countries

should be simple and accessible, while also limiting natural catastrophes.

References

GOGEL (Global Oil & Gas Exit List) (updated 2022) Scarborough Gas Field and Burrup Hub,

GOFEL website, accessed 5 April 2023. https://gogel.org/scarborough-gas-field-and-burrup-

hub

Climate News Australia Scarborough Project Approved Despite Controversy Over Woodside

Energy Emission Claims (videos), Climate News Australia website, accessed 5 April 2023.

https://climatenewsaustralia.com/scarborough-project-approved-despite-controversy-over-

woodside-energy-emission-claims-ext-visuals/

Petrass R (2022) Woodside under fire for greenwashing, gaslighting, and cultural destruction

accusations at “chaotic” AGM, TheFifthEstate website, accessed 5 April 2023.

https://thefifthestate.com.au/business/woodside-under-fire-for-greenwashing-and-attempts-

to-breach-international-conventions-ahead-of-bhp-merger/

Woodside (2021) Climate Report 2021, Woodside website, accessed on 5 April 2023.

https://www.woodside.com/docs/default-source/investor-documents/major-reports-(static-

pdfs)/2021-climate-report/climate-report-2021.pdf
Woodside (2021) Annual Report 2021, Woodside website, accessed on 5 April 2023.

https://www.woodside.com/docs/default-source/investor-documents/major-reports-(static-

pdfs)/2021-full-year-results/annual-report-2021.pdf

Woodside Energy (2023) Building A More Sustainable Future, Woodside website, accessed on 5

April 2023. https://www.woodside.com/sustainability?

gclid=CjwKCAiA3KefBhByEiwAi2LDHJQ1paMO2bJrWsDSkmQmO6MgXxq5PEz-

ha53Md4n-l2Hwl1DmHUN_RoCsYoQAvD_BwE

Sustainalytics (2023) Company ESG Rating – Woodside Energy Group Ltd., Sustainalytics

website, accessed on 5 April 2023. https://www.sustainalytics.com/esg-rating/woodside-

energy-group-ltd/1008752209

Kurmelovs R (2021) Woodside quizzed on business and environmental concerns about WA gas

project, The Guardian website, accessed on 5 April 2023.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/23/woodside-quizzed-on-business-

and-environmental-concerns-about-wa-gas-project

Listcorp. (2022) Woodside Energy Group Ltd. – Annual Report 2022, Listcorp. Website,

accessed on 5 April 2023

https://www.listcorp.com/asx/wds/woodside-energy-group/news/annual-report-2022-

2841280.html?ref=more_news

Aljazeera (2022) Australian activists file bid to stop gas project over reef tears, Aljazeera

website, accessed 5 April 2023 https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/6/22/australian-

activists-file-bid-to-stop-gas-project-over-reef-fears

Greenpeace (2021) Whales, Woodside and deep-sea drilling. Why we must stop the Scarborough

gas project, Greenpeace website, accessed 5 April 2023

https://www.greenpeace.org.au/blog/why-we-must-stop-the-woodside-scarborough-gas-

project-2/