Australian gas firm Woodside hit with greenwashing suit

Market: Crude oil, Natural gas
14/12/23

The Australian arm of environmental campaign group Greenpeace is taking independent oil and gas producer Woodside Energy to court, alleging it has deceived the public about the climate impact of its operations.

Greenpeace, represented by Australian publicly funded law group the Environmental Defenders' Office (EDO), claims Woodside has mispresented its performance on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and has failed to account for scope 3 emissions in its net zero 2050 ambition, in a case filed on 13 December in the Federal Court of Australia.

Woodside falsely claimed it had cut emissions from upstream oil and gas extraction by 11pc in 2022, while increasing GHG output by 3pc and using carbon credit offsets to reduce net emissions, Greenpeace said on 14 December.

The environmental lobby also said Woodside's net zero 2050 plan failed to account for the 90pc of GHG pollution stemming from the end use of its products, known as scope 3 emissions.

Greenpeace described the case as central to holding fossil fuel companies to account for deceiving or misleading its shareholders, politicians and the public on emissions progress.

"Woodside believes that Greenpeace's claims are without merit and intends to vigorously defend the action," a spokeswoman said on 14 December, confirming court papers had been served. "Woodside invests significant time and effort into preparing its public reports, having regard to both its legal obligations and its desire to inform investors and other stakeholders."

Woodside said an offer to meet with Greenpeace representatives regarding its climate reporting had not been taken up. It was targeting $5bn of investment in new energy products and lower carbon services by 2030 to reduce its scope 3 emissions.

The company's most recent climate report to go to a vote was its 2021 version, while Woodside's chairman Richard Goyder confirmed the 2023 climate report will go a vote of shareholders at its 2024 annual general meeting.

Woodside and fellow Australian independent Santos, currently considering a merger, have been locked in multiple climate-related cases led by environmental groups for several years.

Santos' $3.6bn Barossa and Woodside's $12bn Scarborough offshore projects have been stalled this year by EDO-led lawsuits alleging a lack of consultation with traditional owners.

Scarborough won fresh approvals for its seismic testing environmental plan this month, while Barossa's pipeline lay remains largely delayed awaiting a Federal Court decision regarding possible damage to underwater cultural sites.

Santos is also facing a case brought by investor advocacy group the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, arguing it engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct over its plan to reach net zero emissions.

By Tom Major

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IEA says trade tensions clouding oil demand outlook

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13/03/25

IEA says trade tensions clouding oil demand outlook

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US gas producers gear up for return to growth

12/03/25

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12/03/25

US gas producers gear up for return to growth

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Low gas storage bookings may drive German stockdraw

12/03/25

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12/03/25

Low gas storage bookings may drive German stockdraw

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But the inverted THE summer-winter spread has disincentivised capacity bookings for the upcoming storage year. Summer prices holding above winter prices removes the commercial incentive to inject or book storage space profitably. And storage operators have struggled to sell space in recent months, with many auctions closing unsuccessfully as bidders cannot profitably hedge injections for the contract period. In the prevailing environment, only about 55pc of all German storage space has been booked for the 2025-26 storage year, leaving at least 103.5TWh of capacity unallocated, data show ( see data and download ). By contrast, firms had booked 99.7pc of German capacity for the 2024-25 storage year. Storage sites with low or no bookings might be driving withdrawals, as firms near the end of some storage contracts. At sites where some capacity is booked for the next storage year, firms could sell their stocks to other capacity holders if there is no financial incentive for withdrawing it. But at the six sites with no 2025-26 bookings yet — Rehden, Wolfersberg, Harsefeld, Frankenthal, the VNG-operated Jemgum caverns and SEFE's Speicherzone Nord — firms cannot sell gas in-store as there are no available buyers to transfer gas-in-store to, incentivising firms to empty stocks ahead of the summer 2025 filling season. Consequently, sites with no booked capacity for the upcoming storage year currently are filled less than most other German sites ( see graph ). The remaining sites suggests a correlation between 2025-26 bookings and stocks, as sites with a lower proportion of capacity booked for the next storage year tend to be less full, following stronger withdrawals this winter ( see withdrawals trajectory graph ). Stock dilemma Before the 2024-25 storage year ends on 31 March, any capacity holder left with stocks must decide either to withdraw that gas or sell it to a company holding 2025-26 capacity, if there is sufficient storage space booked at the individual site. Barring additional capacity sales, that suggests that about 7TWh may need to be withdrawn on contractual grounds alone, not accounting for weather or withdrawals from fully-booked sites. About 5.6TWh of that is stored at Rehden, Germany's largest storage site, whose operator SEFE Storage allows capacity holders to withdraw 10pc of their stocks up to two months after the storage year ends . Rehden was filled to 12.1pc of capacity on Tuesday morning, leaving about 1TWh to be withdrawn even if all capacity holders utilise that 10pc allowance. Four of the six sites with no 2025-26 bookings are depleted fields or aquifers, which have lower withdrawal and injection rates than salt caverns and offer capacity holders less flexibility to react to unusual price spreads. Caverns often offer faster injection and withdrawal speeds, so could still be used economically in summer by, for example, reacting to price volatility rather than seasonal spreads. Faster cycling also allows cavern capacity holders to wait longer before starting pre-winter injections, potentially allowing them to wait until the summer-winter spread normalises before injecting. Slower-cycling sites such as aquifers and depleted fields are usually drawn down more consistently in winter as their slower injections and withdrawals reduce their flexibility. That said, some operators might need to inject into caverns to maintain their structural integrity. This might stop withdrawals or possibly support a minimum of injections ahead of or early in the filling season. German storage operator Uniper Energy Storage bought some gas to store as de-facto cushion gas at its Etzel EGL and Etzel ESE sites last week to comply with German law. Restrictions on minimum pressure are enforced by mining authorities and can differ by site, storage operators have told Argus . By Lucas Waelbroeck Boix and Till Stehr Storage bookings next year vs current fill level % Fill level trajectories grouped by site type % Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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