Matt Mckenzie

The lion’s share of investment projects under way nationally are still taking place in Western Australia, according to the latest Deloitte Access Economics investment monitor report, although that lead will evaporate as $107 billion of LNG projects are completed in the next two years

Local businesses aren’t popping the champagne corks for an economic recovery just yet despite the latest data from the Commonwealth Bank showing a rise in transactions across a range of sectors during the Christmas trading period.

Former Toro Energy managing director Vanessa Guthrie says recruiting and maintaining women in senior leadership roles remains a significant challenge in Western Australia, given the prevailing corporate culture.

More than $8 billion of greenfields iron ore projects are either proposed or in development, while $450 million of brownfields work is under way as the state’s miners plan investments to maintain production.

A higher iron ore price has helped Atlas Iron post operating cash flow of $58 million in the December quarter, as the company maintained that it would reach a net cash position by the middle of the year.

A final investment decision on the state’s next major greenfields iron ore project could come as early as next year, after Balla Balla Infrastructure Group today signed a state agreement with the government for a new transhipment port and rail facility in the Pilbara.

Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum achieved a 3 per cent lift in production in calendar 2016, although the company expects output to fall by up to 12 per cent in the year ahead.

National LNG exports were up 38 per cent in 2016, but Western Australian facilities did not contribute to the increase despite first gas being produced at Chevron’s Gorgon project, according to the latest research from EnergyQuest.

A Perth team hoping to break a land speed world record has turned to crowdfunding to raise $50,000 to avoid a potential liquidation caused by a fight with the Australian Taxation Office, and is 20 per cent of the way to its target.