Woodside’s US subsidiary and American company Crystal Energy have agreed to end a heads of agreement for the development of the proposed Clearwater Port, Woodside said this morning.
Under the 2004 heads of agreement, Woodside agreed to provide technical expertise and funding to assist development of the facility, receiving in return preferential negotiation rights to access the terminal's capacity.
Both companies will continue discussions over an LNG supply to Clearwater Port, but Woodside is considering developing its own receiving terminal off California, said Woodside chief executive Don Voelte.
“Demand for LNG in the United States is expected to grow more than eight-fold over the next 20 years, making it one of the world’s biggest markets,” Voelte said.
“Our strong reserve base in Australia and our position as an experienced producer of LNG has Woodside ideally placed to supply that market.
“We want to consider additional options and opportunities available to us for the export of natural gas to North America.”
BHP Billiton looks to have stolen a march on Woodside. On Friday, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he favoured a BHP Billiton-backed offshore LNG terminal proposal.
Of four Californian LNG terminal proposals at advanced stages of planning, BHP Billiton’s plan to build a floating platform 24 kilometers from the Los Angeles coast was the best, as the facilities would be built onshore and closer to major population centres, the governor said.
"I think the [BHP Billiton] one, for instance, at Oxnard where you build it out approximately 11 or 12 miles off the shore could probably be the most safest one for California," Schwarzenegger told a press conference.
A final decision about the BHP Billiton terminal was expected towards the end of 2005, but a vote in the US Senate has made the timeframe more uncertain.
The Senate voted to give federal regulators authority over deciding where to site LNG terminals, despite opposition from state governors, including Schwarzenegger.
The Senate bill gives the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the final say on where terminals are sited.
