Woodside working on key terms with NWS to process Browse gas

Australian energy giant Woodside aims to finalize commercial terms to process Browse gas through existing infrastructure of the NWS project during 2018, targeting the beginning of the concept definition phase for the second half of 2018.

Both Browse and the NWS project are operated by Woodside.

In the company’s annual report for 2017 released on Wednesday, Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said that the company “made considerable progress on commercial discussions between the North West Shelf and Browse joint ventures for processing Browse gas through the Karratha Gas Plant.”

Browse resources, consisting of the Brecknock, Calliance and Torosa fields, are located offshore, 425 km north of Broome in Australia’s North West. Woodside’s partners in the project are Shell, BP, ​Japan Australia LNG, and PetroChina International Investment (Australia) Pty Ltd. The Browse resources are estimated to contain gross (100%) contingent resources (2C) of 16.0 Tcf of dry gas and 466 MMbbl of condensate.

The NWS is a joint venture between six major international companies and it includes a portfolio of oil and gas fields within the North West Shelf Project Area.

During 2017, the Browse JV progressed commercial discussions and joint technical feasibility studies for processing Browse resources through the Woodside-operated NWS Project infrastructure.

According to Woodside, the joint venture made significant progress in narrowing alternative concepts for the development of the Browse resources and is aligned on Browse to NWS as the reference case.

The Browse joint venture received a non-binding tolling proposal from the NWS Project to process Browse gas through existing infrastructure. Commercial discussions and joint technical studies are progressing between the two parties.

A potential offshore development would be based on predominantly proven technologies and involve two gas floating production storage and offloading (gFPSO) facilities delivering around 10 mtpa of gas to NWS existing infrastructure by an approximately 900 km long pipeline.

In 2018, the joint venture plans to finalize key commercial terms with the NWS Project to process Browse gas.

The Browse JV is targeting the beginning of the concept definition phase in the second half of 2018, enabled by alignment on commercial requirements with the NWS Project.

The final investment decision (FID) for the Browse resources is expected in 2021.

Offshore Energy Today Staff