Woodside natural gas project unit paused after Greenpeace protest off Western Australia

By Reuters News

SYDNEY, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Woodside WDS.AX said operations remained paused on Sunday at a floating production unit, part of its $12.5 ​billion Scarborough natural gas project off the coast ‌of Western Australia, due to a Greenpeace protest at the platform.

Four activists from the environmental advocacy group on Saturday scaled the unit, located around 375 km (233 miles) off the state's northwest coast, and displayed banners with the message "Stop Woodside’s Dirty Gas. Save ​Scott Reef", Greenpeace said.

The group is concerned about ​the potential impact of Woodside's proposed Browse project on Scott Reef, a remote coral system and foraging area for the endangered pygmy ​blue whale. Woodside says no physical contact is expected with the reef above the 75-metre (246-foot) water depth.

A Woodside spokesperson said "operations at the Scarborough FPU remain safely paused" on Sunday, a day after temporarily halting pre-commissioning activities as a result of the "unauthorised access".

Australian Border Force said it had no update on the incident. On Saturday, it said it was working with federal and state agencies on a response.

Western Australia police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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