Gas deserves fair go

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WOODSIDE Petroleum has hit back at critics of the gas sector, insisting it is not “the cigarette industry”.

And Woodside chief Peter Coleman says the industry has and been unfairly dealt “a bit of a black eye” amid heightened concerns over global warming.

The oil and gas producer said the industry must be part of the solution and do more to tackle climate change, which Woodside now ranks as the biggest risk to its business.

“We are not the cigarette industry and do not want to be viewed as such. And that is a very real risk if we do not take action now,” Mr Coleman said at a Saudi Arabian oil and gas conference.

“As the world reckons with the consequences of climate change, the pressure to reduce emissions will continue to increase.”

Woodside has been agitating for the Australian Government to take more aggressive action on climate change, including the adoption of a national carbon price as part of efforts to cut emissions.

However, it also resisted ambitious carbon-offset rules floated by the West Australian Government last year, arguing the zero emissions guidelines would hobble a lucrative pipeline of looming investment decisions.

Climate change has become a key issue for the company, potentially affecting its ability to recruit staff, sell its wares and secure finance to fund growth plans given deteriorating sentiment.

Mr Coleman said: “With new employees coming into the industry, do they want to be part of an industry that at the moment is getting a bit of a black eye, to be quite frank with you, and I think unfairly?”

Climate change “has certainly come on to my risk register as the largest thing that we need to be thinking about as a company”, he said.

Mr Coleman said that five years ago, “climate change was not the biggest issue that we were dealing with”.

“Today it’s by far the biggest issue,” he said.