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Woodside in LNG talks with China, signs off on plant site
SYDNEY
Petroleumworld.com, Feb 9, 2010Australian energy giant Woodside Tuesday said it had agreed with joint venture partners on a plant site for its Browse liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, and was in talks with a potential Chinese client.Woodside said partners BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell had agreed on a site in the rugged Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Broome, to process LNG from the Browse field.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the development could contribute around 50 billion Australian dollars to the economy over the life of the project, including around nine billion dollars in tax revenue.
"The news that this resource is likely to be processed in Australia is welcome news for both the Western Australian economy and the Australian economy," Rudd told parliament.
Woodside chief executive Don Voelte said construction could begin as early as next year and stressed that financing was not an issue, despite the January lapse of a provisional supply deal with PetroChina.
"We're in very strong hands ... financially with people in New York, people in Europe and especially in Asia who have absolutely no qualms about funding Woodside projects," Voelte told reporters.
"We have people lining up to put their money into Browse."
Voelte said there was "at least three companies that are happy to jump in" to buy LNG from the project, including one Chinese client.
"We won't have an issue there," Voelte said. "We'll get a very good commodity price for the gas."
A 2007 deal to sell up to three million tonnes of LNG a year from Browse to PetroChina expired on December 31 without a firm supply agreement, and Woodside said at the time it would seek other Asia-Pacific buyers.
Taiwan's CPC Corporation signed a provisional agreement in November 2007 for the potential sale of up to three million tonnes of LNG per year for 15 to 20 years. Woodside has also flagged talks with Japan's Osaka Gas.
The booming LNG industry is key to Woodside's growth plans, with the Australian firm in December announcing a 2.3 billion US dollar share offer to boost its ambitious push into the sector.
-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report --
Story from AFP
AFP 02/09/2010 08:50
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