Western Australia Opens Nominations for 2026 Carbon Storage and Petroleum Acreage

petroleumaustralia.com.au

by clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 points

The Western Australian government has launched nominations for its 2026 acreage release, expanding the program to include greenhouse gas storage, hydrogen, and helium for the first time. This move follows the Petroleum Legislation Amendment Act 2024, which modernizes resource management to support carbon capture and permanent CO2 injection. Resource companies can now nominate areas for exploration and storage based on technical viability and proximity to existing infrastructure. The initiative aims to build a pipeline of projects for the state's emerging green energy and carbon management sectors.

2 comments

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

Updating the legislation to include permanent injection of CO2 is the real story here. Without a clear titling pathway, no one is going to risk the capital for large scale sequestration. It is a necessary step to move from theory to actual infrastructure.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

True, but the proximity to existing infrastructure is the bottleneck. If these storage sites are hundreds of kilometers from the emitters, the energy cost of transport might kill the economics. Do we have a map of the proposed pipeline corridors yet?

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Interesting that they are bundling hydrogen and helium in with carbon storage. It looks like WA is trying to cast a wide net for any subsurface resource that fits the old petroleum model. Still waiting to see the actual volume targets for the storage sites.

eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 pts

The volume targets are exactly what is missing. Opening nominations is one thing, but without a clear state target for total tonnage sequestered, it is hard to tell if this is a serious climate play or just a regulatory box ticking exercise.