Years of red tape have clouded the future of Australia's biggest oil and gas company's mammoth offshore project, its boss has lamented.
Woodside received a 50-year extension to continue operating its North West Shelf offshore gas project from the WA government in December following a six-year approval process.
Yet the federal government has pushed back its own decision on the controversial project until March 31, potentially after a federal election.
As Woodside reported its full-year profit had more than doubled to over $5.6 billion, chief executive Meg O'Neill spoke of long delays and disappointment.
"Look, I continue to be pretty frustrated that it's taken more than six years to grant approval to extend the life of an asset that's been operating for 40 years, when we're not planning to do anything that the outside the fence line that we've already established," she said on Tuesday.
The uncertainty has a chilling effect on Woodside's decision-making process, according to Ms O'Neill, including whether to invest in further drilling to bring more gas to Australia's east coast.
"We're having to ask ourselves, can we make that decision with confidence, not knowing whether federal approval is going to be granted," she said.
"We're disappointed that they continue to request more time - I think it's proof of some of the challenges that Australia faces in the approvals environment, that you've got things like reconsideration requests that come in at the 11th hour, where proponents who have no skin in the game can ask the minister to review decisions that were made 40 years ago."
"We think 'what does this mean for our workforce up in Karratha?'," she said, referring to the Pilbara region port city where Woodside has processed gas since 1954 and employs more than 4500 people.
"What does this mean for the workforce at the mine sites that depend on our gas to keep going. There are families whose lives are at stake - so, very frustrated. I'll leave it there. Hopefully we'll get an approval before the election."
Further delays, Ms O'Neill added, would mean more coal in the energy mix for longer.
"So if you're serious about the environment, you'd approve this."
That is, of course, a conclusion hotly disputed by environmental groups and others.
An analysis by the Australia Institute released on Tuesday said the project was driving up WA energy prices, threatening the state's domestic gas reserves and wrecking the climate.
"Extending it for another 50 years would be grossly irresponsible, with emissions equivalent to opening another 12 new coal power stations," said Mark Ogge, principal adviser at the institute.
"It will make WA, and the rest of the world hotter and floods and fires more frequent and extreme."
Woodside also reported that its Scarborough project, 375km off the Pilbara coast, is now 80 per cent complete and on track for its first LNG cargo in 2026.
Saxo Asia Pacific senior sales trader Junvum Kim said it had been a strong production year for Woodside despite softer prices.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, Woodside shares were up 3.0 per cent to a nine-day high of $24.09, on a generally down day for the market.
