The Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) share price is struggling this week amid the company's Scarborough Project being put back in the hot seat and slumping oil prices.
The Supreme Court of Western Australia is hearing submissions against the project's environmental approvals.
The Conservation Council of Western Australia (CCWA) is taking aim at the state's Environmental Protection Authority over its decision to give the project the thumbs up.
Yesterday, the Woodside share price tumbled to close 2.88% lower. It has recovered slightly today.
Right now, it's trading 0.47% higher at $21.37.
For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) slipped 0.49% yesterday. Though, it's up 0.41% today.
Let's take a closer look at this week's news of the oil and gas producer.
What might be driving the Woodside share price this week?
Scarborough approvals questioned in court
The Woodside share price dipped yesterday amid the beginning of a court battle over the legality of Scarborough's environmental approvals.
The CCWA – represented by the Environmental Defenders Office – is arguing the environmental watchdog let the approvals be changed to allow Woodside to process more gas. It allegedly did so without assessing the impact of those changes.
The CCWA believes, in making the changes, the Western Australian Environmental Protection Agency contravened the Environmental Protection Act.
Executive director of CCWA Maggie Wood commented on the lawsuit, saying:
Unless these environmental approvals are questioned and challenged, Woodside could have free rein to produce staggering amounts of pollution, far in excess of that which they initially proposed …
We believe that all developers – but particularly developers of highly contentious fossil fuel projects – should be held to the same consistently high standards and measures.
Managing lawyer at the Environmental Defenders Office Tim Macknay said approvals such as Scarborough's shouldn't be "rubber stamped":
In short, this case is simply about ensuring that projects are properly assessed for their environmental impacts and that government ministers and statutory bodies follow correct process.
The CCWA launched another case against the project's approvals last month.
The second Supreme Court case will see it claiming approvals for the Pluto facility's expansion, granted by the CEO of the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, are unlawful.
Oil prices slump
Oil prices might also be partly to blame for the Woodside share price's lacklustre performance this week.
The price of Brent crude futures slipped 2.7% on Monday, while those of West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.7%.
According to Reuters, the dip was due to increasing concerns of Omicron breakouts around the globe.
Soaring numbers of new cases and lockdowns in parts of Europe could see demand for fossil fuel drop worldwide.
At this stage, West Texas Intermediate crude futures are back in the green on Tuesday. However, Brent crude futures are still dipping.
Woodside share price snapshot
2021 has been rough for the Woodside share price.
It has fallen 7.3% year to date. It's also slipped more than 3% over the last 30 days.
