Woodside: Browse FLNG Project on Hold

Shell The multi-billion dollar Browse floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project has been stopped due to the current challenging economic and market environment, Australian oil and gas company Woodside said. Since the front-end engineering and design (FEED) work entry, Woodside said it had been focused on reducing costs, however, by the time the FEED was concluded the Browse Joint Venture participants saw that the continuation of the Western Australian project was too costly due to the currently depressed oil market. The decision represents a disciplined approach to large-scale capital investment and is consistent with our requirements for a development concept to be commercially robust across a range of scenarios, Woodside CEO, Peter Coleman, said. Woodside remains committed to the earliest commercial development of the world-class Browse resources and to FLNG as the preferred solution, but the economic environment is not supportive of a major LNG investment at this time, he added. The company said it will now work with the Browse Joint Venture participants to prepare a new work program and budget to continue development activities.