Woodside Looks to Sell Gas Assets

By Alexander Cornwell and Dmitry Zhdannikov
Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Australian oil and gas producer Woodside is seeking to reduce its stakes in the Scarborough gas field at home and in Canada's Kitimat liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to cut its capital exposure, its chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday.

The comments by CEO Peter Coleman came after speculation Saudi Aramco could be interested in Scarborough, a gas resource that, once developed, would feed into and expand Woodside's Pluto LNG production and export facility.

Woodside holds a 75% stake in the Scarborough gas field and 50% of the Kitimat project in Canada, which is operated by Chevron.

"We just look at that and say from a capital management and risk management point of view we would rather hold less equity," Coleman told Reuters. "It also helps us fund through this next expenditure cycle if we can reduce our capital requirement."

"In a major project where we are operating, we would like to be between 40% and 60% equity. It kind of makes sense. When you’re non-operator, anywhere between 20% and 40% is the right number," he said.

Of Aramco's potential investment, he said it would be "no secret" if the company were interested in projects in Australia, but did not elaborate further.

Woodside wants to take a final investment decision on developing the $11 billion Scarborough field in 2020 but warned last month it was at the mercy of its partners to lock down some of its projects plans.

The company is in talks with its 25% partner BHP Group on how much to charge for processing Scarborough gas through the Pluto LNG plant.

The gas from Scarborough could prompt the building of Pluto LNG II, a 4-5 million tonne a year (mtpa) facility.

Pluto produces 5 mtpa, contributing to Australia's LNG exports which vie for the top spot with Qatar, long the world's largest LNG supplier.

In Canada, Chevron and Woodside are yet to propose a date for a final investment decision on the Kitimat LNG project, having expanded its planned size to 18 mtpa in April.

Last year, Royal Dutch Shell began building its 14 mtpa LNG Canada plant just 20 kilometres away from the Kitimat site.


(Reporting by Alex Cornwell and Dmitry Zhdannikov; Writing by Nina Chestney and Sabina Zawadzki; Editing by Susan Fenton and Jan Harvey)

Categories: LNG Natural Gas North America Australia/NZ

Related Stories

Santos Hires Weststar-GAP for Timor-Leste Offshore Helicopter Services

European LNG Imports Up with Asian Influx

AI & Offshore Energy: The Higher the Stakes, the More Value AI Creates

Sembcorp Signs 10-Year LNG Supply Contract with Chevron

Makin' a List ... Trump Prioritizes Energy Exploration, Production, Export

ABS Takes Charge of Digital Twin Project for Petrobras’ FPSOs

East Timor Eyes Chinese Partners for Stalled Greater Sunrise Gas Development

ABS Gives Its Blessing to SHI’s Ammonia FPSO Design

TotalEnergies Signs LNG Supply Deal with South Korea’s HD Hyundai Chemical

Joint Venture Partners Ink Commercial Deals to Develop Gas Reserves at Azerbaijan’s ACG Field

Current News

Japan's Mitsui Eyes Alaska LNG Project

Santos Hires Weststar-GAP for Timor-Leste Offshore Helicopter Services

Petronas Preps for Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline Decom Op

European LNG Imports Up with Asian Influx

Sunda Energy Starts Environmental Survey for Timor-Leste Oil and Gas Field

Kazakhstan Looks to Improve Oil Production Agreements Terms

ConocoPhillips Takes Over Operatorship of Malaysian Oil and Gas Cluster

VIDEO: AIRCAT Crewliner takes Shape to Service Offshore for TotalEnergies Angola

China's CNOOC Aims for Record Oil and Gas Production in 2025

AIRCAT 35 Crewliner Vessels Delivered to Service TotalEnergies Angola

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com