#Woodside delays investment call on #Browse #LNG

Woodside has postponed a final investment decision on its proposed $30 billion Browse LNG project by at least six months, The Australian reported.
There was now more time for Woodside and its joint-venture partners to evaluate preliminary work on the proposed $30 billion Browse Basin liquefied natural gas project in WA’s Kimberley region, the oil and gas producer said.

The miner today announced that both the federal government and Western Australia had approved amendments to the retention leases for the Browse Basin proposal.

Woodside said: "The amendments include extending the condition relating to readiness for a final investment decision" on the Browse development "from mid-2012 to the first half of 2013".

"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."

Woodside also said that the revised timetable would allow more time to complete "necessary assurance activities".

Shares in Woodside were down 2.33 per cent at $34.36 in late-morning trade; the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.89 per cent at the same time.

In a related development, The Australian’s Matt Chambers today reported that growth in Australia’s LNG exports was under threat by a continued slide in US natural gas prices, which has made North American LNG projects more appealing.

The price slide in the US is also set to weigh on global gas-export pricing.

To read the full article, click here.

The LNG Outlook conference will be happening on the 19-21 November 2012. It will discuss investment and development for international gas buyers and Australian producers. To learn more about the event, click here.