Woodside Petroleum on June 23 reiterated that it would consider buying Chevron’s stake in Australia’s North West Shelf LNG project. The company also indicated that other joint venture partners (BP, Shell, BHP Group, and Japan Australia LNG) could be looking to exit. Those six companies hold equal stakes in Australia’s biggest LNG project.
NSW foundational gas fields begin to run dry, and Woodside wants to feed the plant with gas from its Browse project. However, it struggles to get the partners to follow the move. Chevron has no stake in Browse, unlike most of the other NWS partners. The American oil giant also operates a competing gas field in the region which could supply NSW.
Chevron’s move to exit the plant can pave the way for Woodside to execute its plan. The company last week said it would begin the official marketing process after potential buyers made unsolicited approaches. So far, Woodside has been viewed as the logical buyer for the stake, although other JV partners have pre-emptive rights.
