Australia has approved the West Peron undersea formation as a storage site for Inpex's Bonaparte carbon capture and storage project. The site, off the country's north coast, is designed to store up to 443 million tonnes of CO2 over 35 years. Initial injections would take CO2 from Inpex's Ichthys LNG project at a rate of 8 million tonnes per year, with plans to open capacity to other industrial facilities later. The decision is a permitting milestone, not a final investment decision. It signals Australian government support for CCS as part of the path to net zero by 2050, particularly for hard-to-abate sectors. The open question is how the stored volumes are measured and verified, and whether the project actually delivers on its emissions reduction claims.
