At the 2022 AGM, Woodside chair Richard Goyder said the gas giant needed to do more to explain its position on the use of carbon offsets, Scope 3 emissions from customers burning its product, and its plans post-2030.

Woodside plans to cut its direct, or Scope 1 and 2, emissions by 15 per cent by 2025 and achieve a 30 per cent reduction by 2030 with help from carbon offsets and carbon capture and storage.

O’Neill said Woodside would address its Scope 3 emissions by making products that will help its customers reduce their emissions. The first major investment targeted for 2023 is producing hydrogen in Oklahoma, in the US, to fuel heavy transport.

“We stand behind our climate strategy,” O’Neill said.

Woodside announced on Monday a $US50 million ($79 million) investment in US-based LanzaTech, which is developing technology that uses bacteria to convert carbon dioxide to fuels and chemicals.

Kater said the investor activist organisation’s primary concerns about Woodside’s plans were its heavy reliance on offsets and the absence of a Scope 3 target.

“Ignoring investors is a high-stakes strategy for directors that are up for re-election at the 2023 AGM,” she said.

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Kater said Scope 3 targets showed how a company was transitioning away from fossil fuels, but Woodside had no plan to stop developing new oil and gas projects.

“It is raining money for oil and gas producers now,” she said.

“However, a wave of demand destruction has been initiated as a result of crippling prices and with additional LNG supply coming online mid-decade, these conditions are unlikely to last.”

To date, Woodside’s emissions reductions are self-imposed, but that will likely change when Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen completes his review of the safeguard mechanism that regulates large emitters outside the power sector.

For years Woodside has lobbied to be allowed to use international carbon credits to meet any mandated emissions reductions.

However, earlier this month Bowen said that would not happen for at least several years due to concern that the foreign offsets would not count towards Australia’s emissions reduction target.

Woodside faces the risk that international offsets already bought to reach corporate emissions targets would be of no use with regulated targets.

O’Neill said Woodside would continue to engage the government on the issue.

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