May 29, 2026 — 10:12amA messy legal battle between oil and gas giants over the clean-up bill for a decrepit floating oil production facility off Australia’s northern coast has spilled over into WA’s Supreme Court – again.Shell has filed a writ against Woodside Energy and Paladin Resources demanding more than $83 million after being hit with a clean-up bill for the Northern Endeavour by the federal government.The Northern Endeavour en route to a ship recycling facility in Denmark earlier this year.Department of Industry, Science and ResourcesIt is a further escalation of the dispute between the major resources companies, after Shell filed a similar lawsuit in 2024 for $86.5 million.The action filed this week takes the total amount Shell is seeking to recoup from Woodside and Paladin to about $169.5 million.The 274-metre Northern Endeavour spent much of its life permanently connected to the seabed, drawing oil from the Corallina and Laminaria fields about 550 kilometres north-west of Darwin in the Timor Sea.It was previously operated as a joint venture between Woodside, Shell, and BHP before the miner sold out its share in the project to Paladin for US$150 million in 2004.The following year, Shell sold its interests in the project to its joint venture partners – 66.67 per cent to Woodside and 33.33 per cent to Paladin.As it neared the end of its operating life, the Northern Endeavour was sold to Northern Oil and Gas Australia, which collapsed in early 2020, leaving the platform – and clean-up bill – in the government’s hands.That led to the introduction of an offshore petroleum levy as the government sought to make the resources companies fork out for the cost of decommissioning the mammoth vessel, with a $325 million contract awarded for just the first stage of the clean-up.Central to Shell’s claims against Woodside and Paladin is an agreement in 2005, when it offloaded its share of the joint venture, which it claimed included “all related assets and agreements including Shell’s interest in the Northern Endeavour and seabed infrastructure”.“At all material times, the holder of the petroleum licence … had obligations in relation to the removal of structures, equipment and property in the licence area,” the writ filed this week said.Shell was subsequently hit with bills of $41,272,007 and $42,499,708 for the 2024 and 2025 financial years under the government’s levy.But it claimed in the writ that “on proper construction of the Woodside and Paladin [agreements], Woodside and Paladin are obliged to reimburse and indemnify Shell with respect to the whole amount of the 2024 and 2025 OP Assessments, together with any future OP Assessment amounts”.Shell claimed in the writ it had written to both companies demanding they pay up, but those requests had been denied.This week’s writ echoes the lawsuit filed in 2024, where Shell again claimed it had filed two letters demanding payment, only for Woodside and Paladin to deny liability.A Woodside spokesperson said the company continued to defend the action brought by Shell, but would not comment further as the matter was before the courts.From our partners