Woodside-led Browse FLNG venture enters FEED phase

July 1, 2015
The Woodside Petroleum Ltd.-led Browse LNG joint venture has entered the front-end engineering and design phase for a floating LNG (FLNG) development of Torosa, Brecknock, and Calliance natural gas fields offshore Western Australia.

The Woodside Petroleum Ltd.-led Browse LNG joint venture has entered the front-end engineering and design phase for a floating LNG (FLNG) development of Torosa, Brecknock, and Calliance natural gas fields offshore Western Australia.

The FEED process will finalize the costs and provide technical definition for the proposed development leading to a scheduled final investment decision in about 12 months.

Woodside Chief Executive Officer Peter Coleman says the decision to enter FEED is a significant step towards developing what he calls a world-class resource.

Two of the fields in the Browse basin—Torosa and Brecknock—were discovered in the 1970s. Calliance field was discovered in 2000. They have been in limbo for decades, despite numerous development studies, the penultimate of which involved plans for an onshore processing plant at James Price Point on the Kimberley coast.

The latest FLNG concept comprises three FLNG vessels using Shell’s technology, pioneered—but yet to be brought on stream—at Prelude field, also in the Browse basin. Torosa, Brecknock, and Calliance have a combined 2C contingent resource of 15.4 tcf of gas and 453 million bbl of condensate. This is the last undeveloped mega-LNG project left in Western Australia once Gorgon-Jansz, Wheatstone, Ichthys, and Prelude have been completed.

Retention lease renewal offers covering the three fields have been offered by the government and accepted by the Woodside group following last week’s deal with the Western Australia government to reserve the equivalent of 15% of the LNG produced from the two thirds of Torosa field that lies within state waters for domestic use.

Woodside says the Browse LNG volumes for the remainder of the resource will be marketed on an equity basis from its growing LNG portfolio.