Woodside plans mega LNG order

Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s second-largest oil and gas producer, plans to order as many as 18 LNG tankers to supply gas to markets including the USA. Woodside, 34% owned by Royal Dutch Shell, may need between four and six tankers to ship LNG from the planned $3.7 billion Pluto gas project and between 10 and 12 tankers for the Browse project, according to ceo Don Voelte. Both projects are located off the coast of Western Australia.

The Perth-based company has been speeding up development of the Pluto field, which it found last April 190 kms northwest of Karratha, to take advantage of rising demand for LNG, which may lead to higher prices. Woodside estimates the wholly owned Pluto field contains about 3.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and plans to bring the project into production in late 2010.

Woodside may start operating the 50% owned Browse project as early as 2011. Browse, in which BHP Billiton Ltd., Chevron Corp. and Shell have stakes, may produce between 7 million and 14 million tonnes annually.