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New analysis by the DomGas Alliance of Woodside's latest quarterly production data shows the company's Pluto LNG project continues to fall well short of the equivalent of Western Australia's 15 percent domestic gas reservation benchmark.
Since 2017, Woodside has supplied just 3.7 percent of total Pluto production into the Western Australian market. The latest quarterly figures show Woodside supplied 10 percent of Pluto production domestically, remaining well below the equivalent 15 percent benchmark.
This is the second quarterly Pluto performance update published by the DomGas Alliance. In the absence of transparent public reporting against domestic gas reservation outcomes, the Alliance will continue publishing quarterly analysis until the matter is resolved.
Woodside's woeful performance has occurred while negotiations to modernise Pluto's domestic gas obligations approach the two-year mark with the Cook Government.
While those negotiations are complex, they do not prevent Woodside from honouring the intent of Western Australia's domestic gas reservation policy.
The final report of the Parliamentary Inquiry into WA Domestic Gas (2024) identified Pluto's domestic gas arrangements as requiring attention and the Government agreed with this recommendation.
That signal alone should have caused Woodside to act to increase the percentage of domestic gas it makes available for the Western Australian market.
Instead, Woodside's leadership could hardly be more tone deaf.
The company is seeking government and community support for Browse, participating in the national debate on domestic gas reservation and pushing back against growing calls for a gas export tax - if ever there was a time to demonstrate leadership and commit to the intent of the WA Domestic Gas Policy, it should be now.
Affordable, reliable domestic gas supports local manufacturing, mining, mineral processing, electricity generation and thousands of Western Australian jobs. Every petajoule supplied into the domestic market strengthens the State's economy and helps ensure Western Australia's natural resources deliver lasting benefits to the people who own them.
Attributable to DomGas Alliance Spokesperson Mia Davies:
"WA gas should work for WA first. Western Australians own the resource and should receive the benefit before additional gas is shipped offshore.
"Woodside has supplied just 3.7 percent of Pluto's gas into the domestic market since 2017, which is simply not good enough.
"This is now the second quarterly update we've published, and until there is transparent public reporting by gas producers, we'll continue sharing our data.
"Western Australians deserve to know whether their gas reservation policy is working.
"The Cook Government is in negotiations with Woodside to modernise the Pluto agreement, but Woodside doesn't have to wait for the ink to dry on a new contract, they could choose to show leadership and do the right thing today.
"Instead, Woodside continues to exploit weaknesses identified in their existing contract that were highlighted in the 2024 Parliamentary Inquiry into Domestic Gas. That is disappointing for Western Australians, and it should concern every Australian as the Federal Government develops a national domestic gas reservation scheme.
"Pluto should be a lesson for Canberra - a reservation policy without transparency and accountability risks becoming a policy that exists on paper but not in practice."
