Woodside, which has a 33% stake in the field, has indicated it will make a decision on Sunrise's development by October. Its other partners include Shell (27%), Phillips Petroleum (30%) and Osaka Gas (10%).
Salomon Smith Barney analyst Gordan Ramsay said he has lifted his recommendation on Woodside stock from "outperform" to "buy" after assessing the value of the Sunrise project. He suggested that development of the Sunrise Gas project would add $1 to Woodside's share price.
However, ABN Amro analyst Paul Ashby begs to differ and said he did not expect strong market reaction to news that the Sunrise development would proceed. He said development would add between 40c and 60c to his value.
"The project is well known, and if we get a go-ahead this year, the final investment decision has probably slipped to around the end of 2003 with first gas around end 2007," Mr Ashby said.
"These projects are more about long-term growth and are not particularly valuable in today's dollars."
Mr Ashby added he has a target of $14.80 on the stock, rates it a "hold" and does not believe it will reach $15 on news of a development go-ahead. Woodside is today trading at $14.15, up 16c on yesterday.
