The West Australian reported today that Woodside had demanded Chevron pay $1.3 billion to develop Wheatstone via the Pluto facilities, prompting Chevron to consider other options.

But a source told PNN that a Burrup LNG Park development for Wheatstone was never a preferred option as there simply isn't enough land at that site to satisfy Chevron's ambitions.

"It's not just about Wheatstone," he said.

"It's about all of Chevron's North West Shelf gas fields that aren't part of the Greater Gorgon Area. Wheatstone will feed Train One, but other trains will develop Clio and Chandon and other fields.

"There's only room for four trains at Burrup LNG. Chevron needs its own site."

Chevron aims to develop the Wheatstone and Gorgon LNG projects as independent projects.

Unlike the much-delayed Gorgon project, Chevron owns 100% of Wheatstone.

Chevron is still very enthusiastic about Gorgon but with partner alignment believed to be a problem, Wheatstone could well be developed before Gorgon.

Some observers have drawn parallels between Wheatstone and Woodside's 100%-held Pluto project, which is taking a very fast path to development.

But PNN's source warned against expecting Wheatstone to develop at the same rapid pace as Pluto.

"There's a lot of excitement at Chevron about Wheatstone, but Chevron's reporting chain is a lot longer than Woodside's," he said.

"Chevron can't be as nimble as Woodside."

Front-end engineering and design on Wheatstone is expected to start next year.