Woodside: First gas from Browse expected in mid-2020s

Australian oil and gas company Woodside expects first gas from its Browse basin fields offshore Australia to start flowing in mid-2020s.
This was revealed by Peter Coleman, Woodside CEO, at the company’s annual general meeting on Friday.

The Browse project aims to commercialize the Brecknock, Calliance and Torosa fields offshore W. Australia containing gross contingent resources (2C) of 15.4 trillion cubic feet of dry gas and 453 million barrels of condensate).

Woodside had planned to develop the fields using three separate Floating LNG units, however the company last year said stopped the FLNG project citing “current economic and market environment.“

Woodside’s participating interest in the Browse resources is 30.6% (net Woodside 2C share of 4.9 trillion cubic feet of dry gas and 142.6 million barrels of condensate)

While Coleman at the time said FLNG was still an option, recent comments speak otherwise.

Namely, the company in April said it had made significant progress in narrowing alternative concepts for the development of Browse, preferring a concept utilising existing LNG process infrastructure on the Burrup Peninsula, subject to reaching acceptable terms with the Burrup infrastructure owners.

That the FLNG is out of the equation Coleman confirmed on Friday.

He said: “As you know, we have worked for some years to find the right development concept for the worldclass Browse resources. I’m very excited about where we are headed.

Now conditions are aligning for us to look closely at an opportunity to basically double the life of the North West Shelf by bringing the Browse resources into it.

Utilising the existing facilities has the dual advantage of ensuring the most efficient use of capital while minimizing risk by relying on proven technologies.

As operator of both Browse and the North West Shelf, Woodside is well-placed to make this happen and we are talking to joint venture participants in both assets.

It’s still early days but we think this is a compelling option and could be achieved at a competitive price and in a reasonable timeframe.

Woodside predicts tightening in LNG in the next few years due to the growth in demand from new markets and the current challenging conditions for new large-scale developments.

“These factors point to a supply shortfall in the 2020s, adding to the case for developing Browse. We anticipate that first gas from Browse could enter the North West Shelf plant from the mid- 2020s, coinciding with the forecast supply crunch,” Coleman said.

Offshore Energy Today Staff