Woodside awarded production licenses over Scarborough field

Nov. 9, 2020
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. has been granted two production licenses covering the Scarborough gas field area on the Exmouth Plateau offshore Western Australia.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. has been granted two production licenses covering the Scarborough gas field area on the Exmouth Plateau offshore Western Australia.

The licenses are a step forward in the delayed $17 (Aus.)-billion development project which proposes to pipe gas from Scarborough and surrounding fields to an expanded Pluto LNG plant on the Burrup Peninsula near Karratha in the state’s Pilbara region.

Woodside is operator with a 73.5% interest. BHP holds the remaining 26.5%.

A final investment decision, delayed by this year’s market volatility and the COVID-19 pandemic, is now expected during second-half 2021.

Acceptance of the new production licenses is a strong sign that the JV is committed to advancing the project, said Woodside Chief Executive Peter Coleman.

Together with the project’s recent environmental approval, Woodside has obtained key Commonwealth approvals required to support a final investment decision, he said.

The production licenses, about 375 km west-northwest of the Burrup, account for an estimated 11 tcf of gas resources.