Woodside places Pluto expansion on hold
28 Aug 2012
Woodside Petroleum, Australia’s largest oil and gas company, said it will shelve plans to expand the Pluto liquefied natural gas plant after recent gas exploration attempts failed.
Pluto LNG processes gas from the Pluto and Xena gas fields, located in the Carnarvon Basin, and was approved for development in July 2007,
However, three of the four wells drilled were unsuccessful meaning a final investment decision to expand the plant has been put off.
In the group’s half year report, chief executive Peter Coleman said: “The current phase of exploration drilling to support additional trains has concluded without discovering the volume of commercial gas that is required to endorse a final investment decision at this point in time.”
He added that the company were currently in talks with third parties about supplying the gas needed to expand the project, and expected discussions to continue through next year.
