Earlier this year, Crikey looked at the ticking timebomb of decommissioning redundant offshore fossil fuel rigs and the risks concerning radioactive waste and the diplomatic tensions they present. Not to mention the tens and tens of billions of dollars in cost. There are more than 1,000 wells and 57 fixed facilities off Australia’s coast that are nearing their end.
The pinnacle of this potential fiasco, we argued, is the Northern Endeavour. The rust-covered oil rig, pocked with corrosion and holes, has already cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and could cost the oil and gas industry up to a billion to be packed up and towed away for scrap.
It was run by Woodside until it was sold to a small, inexperienced company called Northern Oil and Gas Australia (NOGA) in 2016.
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