Woodside Petroleum’s announcement on Monday that it would postpone making a final investment decision on its Western Australian Browse LNG development came as little surprise following an unfavourable court ruling earlier this month and concerns about escalating costs.
The Perth-based LNG developer and its joint venture partners, BHP Billiton, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell, will ask the Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum Norman Moore for permission to amend its retention leases for the offshore Browse Basin, said Woodside, which operates the Browse project with a 50% share. The companies had been aiming to make a final investment decision in mid-2012.
“Woodside believes an extension into the first half of 2013 may be required,” it said in a statement on Monday. “While the joint venture has to date met the schedule imposed by the retention lease conditions, the variation would allow time to better evaluate the outcomes of front-end engineering and design work and the results of the tender processes for the development’s major contracts.”
Interfax Energy
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