The Woodside Petroleum Ltd.-led Browse floating LNG (FLNG) project offshore Western Australia has taken another step forward with the Australian government granting conditional environmental approval for development. The approvals are valid until 2070.
The retention leases over Torosa, Brecknock, and Calliance gas-condensate fields in the Browse basin are valid for 5 years.
Woodside is in front-end engineering and design stage with studies heavily reliant on Shell’s experience in development of the nearby Prelude FLNG project.
A final investment decision is scheduled for mid-2016.
Australian government approval comes with 26 conditions, most of which relevant to protecting the Scott Reef and whale migration fairways.
Woodside has said previously that the full development will require three FLNG vessels and 64 production wells.
The project is targeting up to 11.7 million tonnes of LNG per year and 66,000 b/d of condensate during a 40-50 year project life. Potential on-stream date is late 2021 at the earliest.