A condition associated with the retention leases of the venture’s Browse Basin gas fields required that a development concept be selected within 120 days, effective from 2 December 2009.

The next phase of development will be basis of design, followed by front-end engineering and design in 2011, to enable a final investment decision by mid-2012.

The Western Australian Government and joint venture partners are also working towards completing the environmental approvals processes by late 2010.

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett welcomed the selection of the Government’s preferred site as an important step in positioning the state as a major supplier on the world LNG market.

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The Browse LNG Project is a joint venture between Woodside, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and BHP Billiton, and includes the Brecknock, Brecknock South and Tarosa (formerly known as Scott Reef) fields, which contain proven reserves of 30.4 trillion cubic feet of gas and 600 million barrels of condensate. The fields are located approximately 400 kilometres north, northwest of Broome. The initial development concept for Browse involves offshore facilities and two processing trains, each with a capacity of 7 million tonnes per annum of LNG.