The operations at Australian oil and gas giant, Woodside's $12.5 billion Scarborough project in Western Australia have stopped after Greenpeace staged a protest at a floating platform.

On Sunday, the company said it had to pause work at a Scarborough floating production unit off the coast of WA. Two activists from the environmental advocacy group slept overnight on the semi-submersible unit, located about 375 km off the state's northwest coast, in a protest that started on Saturday.