Woodside scraps US$40bil LNG project after price collapse

Challenging market: The Woodside Petroleum Otway Gas Plant in Victoria. Woodside Petroleum Ltd is not going ahead with the Browse floating LNG project due to an ‘extremely challenging’ market. – Reuters

SYDNEY: Woodside Petroleum Ltd and partners including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc scrapped plans to develop the US$40bil Browse liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia after the plunge in oil and gas prices.

Australia’s second-largest oil and gas producer won’t go ahead with the floating LNG development after completing engineering and design work, the Perth-based company announced yesterday. Citing an “extremely challenging” market, Woodside said the Browse venture would prepare a new plan and budget for developing the gas resources off Western Australia.