By Ron Bousso and Marwa Rashad
LONDON – Woodside (OTC:) Energy expects to involve several partners in liquid energy development in Louisiana by the time the company gives the U.S. project a financial green light in the first quarter of 2025, its CEO told Reuters.
Australian-listed Woodside is looking to sell a 50% stake in the Louisiana LNG project, which it wholly owns following its $1.2 billion acquisition of developer Tellurian (NYSE:) Inc in October. The US Gulf Coast facility could convert US shale gas into up to 27.7 million tonnes of LNG per year.
Woodside has been in discussions with U.S. natural gas producers, traditional LNG buyers taking an equity stake and LNG supplies from the project, as well as infrastructure-focused investors looking for stable revenues over a long period of time, CEO Meg O’Neill told Reuters.
Announcements about new partners in the projects would “coincide at the latest with the FID (final investment decision),” she said.
“The goal is to build a dream team where everyone in the partnership brings something of value. It could be an understanding of the onshore gas market, it could be infrastructure capital and expertise in LNG offtake and marketing,” she said.
O’Neill would not name any companies they have done business with. Reuters reported last month that Woodside was in talks with Tokyo Gas about a stake in the project, citing people familiar with the matter.
O’Neill said she was “comfortable” that Woodside would be able to finance its share of the development costs from its own balance sheet.
Woodside will shut off natural gas supplies following the final investment decision on the project, which is expected to begin production in 2028, O’Neill said.
The project is estimated to cost about $900 to $960 per tonne of LNG after renegotiation of the development contract with service company Bechtel, O’Neill added.
“There is some inflationary pressure, both in the supply chain and in the labor market,” she said.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso and Marwa Rashad; Editing by David Evans)
