The halt came after several media reports this morning pre-empted the company’s announcement with the Australian Financial Review saying the partners were today expected to announce the go-ahead for the FEED phase of the $3.5 billion project.
This would effectively amount to a confirmation of the 3,200km PNG-Queensland gas pipeline’s construction, despite a short fall in sufficient foundation customers to justify the cost.
“We would like the trading halt to last until we make an announcement concerning FEED”, said an Oil Search statement. The statement acknowledged the halt could not exceed the period permitted under the ASX’s market rules.
The partners are still waiting on a decision from the recently expanded Gladstone Alumina refinery which would push demand to the required 100 -150 petajoules per year for the project to become commercial.
