Recent documents obtained under a freedom of information request by Boiling Cold have revealed Australian taxpayers will pay at least $500 million in helping clean up Chevron’s oil field project at Barrow Island in Western Australia. 

Chevron is an American-owned multinational petroleum corporation. It has operated an oil project at Barrow Island for over 6o years. The Western Australian and Federal Government have a long-established royalty deal with Chevron over the project. Royalty payments are divided with the Federal Government receiving 75% and WA 25%.

The obtained documents reveal that under a WA ACT signed in 1985, Chevron will be reimbursed 40% of their costs on cleaning up the oil fields and decommissioning the site. In this case, the Federal Government will be required to pay 75% of the bill and WA 25%. Over six decades, the royalty scheme has raised over $1 billion, meaning that with estimated clean up costs sitting at $2.3 billion, Australia is set to lose about half of its total royalty payments.

Barrow Island is also home to the Gorgon gas project, which is largely operated by Chevron. Earlier this month, Chevron confirmed that an unknown amount of gas had leaked to the surface of Barrow Island.

Produced By: George Pople

Featured In Story: Executive Director of the Conservation Council WA – Matt Roberts, and Principal Advisor to the Australia Institute – Mark Ogge

First aired on The Wire, Wednesday 23 July 2025