BY: ANDREW BURRELL From: The Australian January 27, 2012 12:00AM
WOODSIDE Petroleum has launched a $1 billion-plus auction of most of its 50 per cent stake in the huge Browse gas project in Western Australia, in a move that could kill off controversial plans to build a processing plant on the Kimberley coast.
Sources say the formal auction process began after Woodside was approached by scores of companies over the past 12 months over a potential selldown.
Although this is very promising news, everyone must please remember that it is the WA State Government who is the proponent for this project. Its the state government who want a deep water port on the Kimberley coast. Woodside have made no official statement and the so-called auction has not started. We do keep our fingers crossed that this is the start of the finish, but lets not hold our breath just yet.
WOODSIDE Petroleum's plans to build the $30 billion-plus Browse liquefied natural gas plant near Broome appear to have become less appealing against the alternative of piping the gas 1000km for processing at the North West Shelf plant near Karratha when reserves there run low.
After recent industry developments here and in the US, analysts now put a greater probability on the Browse project's offshore gas fields being turned into LNG at the North West Shelf and say this would give the project a greater value.
So what does this mean? Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Will another Venture Partner simply take over or will the gas be piped south? Who knows?
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