Canberra approves Browse FLNG development

OREANDA-NEWS. The Australian federal government has approved domestic independent Woodside's proposed 11.7mn t/yr Browse floating LNG (FLNG) project offshore Western Australia (WA).

Canberra has given Woodside and its joint-venture partners five years to complete substantial development work on the project, with the overall approval valid until 2070. The project still requires final environmental approval from the WA state government and the final go-ahead from the partners.

The federal government has approved the Browse project to have a lifespan of 40-50 years with a maximum of three FLNG facilities with capacity of 3.9mn t/yr each, as well as 17,000-22,000 b/d of condensate production capacity.

Woodside last month led a decision by the Browse partners to proceed to an engineering and design phase, despite concerns about the economic viability of the project from some of those involved. Shell, BP, Chinese state-controlled oil firm PetroChina and Japanese trading firms Mitsubishi and Mitsui partner operator Woodside on Browse.

Woodside has been under political pressure from the WA state government to move the project forward or risk losing its retention lease over the Torosa field, which is one of three that underpin the Browse project. Last month's move to the next stage was necessary if Woodside is to meet its deadline of making a final investment decision during the second half of next year.

Woodside's international partners prefer to slow the development process while they wait for LNG demand to catch up with supplies, with several major LNG projects moving to full production during the next two years.

Total resources for Browse, which comprise the Brecknock, Calliance and Torosa fields, are 14.9 trillion ft? (422bn m?) of gas and 441.2mn bl of condensate.

Woodside and the WA government agreed in June for Browse to supply gas to the domestic market from Torosa. Woodside may supply gas under this agreement through a gas swap with the 16.3mn t/yr North West Shelf LNG venture in the Carnarvon basin offshore WA, rather than build a pipeline from Torosa to the coast.