Browse Joint Venture enters front-end engineering and design phase

Premier and State Development Minister Colin Barnett has welcomed the decision by Woodside Petroleum Ltd to enter the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase for the proposed floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) development in the Browse basin.

“I am very pleased to see the Browse Joint Venture participants take this step into this new phase; it’s a positive move in the development of the Browse LNG resource,” Mr Barnett said.

“This follows the signing of a Key Principles Agreement with the Browse FLNG proponents last week for the provision of domestic gas and a supply chain in Western Australia – the first time the State’s domestic gas policy will be applied to an FLNG project. The Key Principles Agreement clears the way for the extension of the retention leases covering the project fields, and provides the Browse Joint Venture with certainty as it heads towards the front-end engineering and design phase.”

“I would like to thank the joint venture partners for the professional way they have embarked upon all the negotiations around this project. News that this project is progressing well is excellent for the resources sector in Western Australia and for WA as a whole. This decision will lift confidence in resources and in the business community.”

Under the Key Principles Agreement, the joint venture has committed to reserve gas equivalent to 15 per cent of production from the State’s share of the Torosa reservoir, one of three gas fields that make up the Browse project.

“The domestic gas obligation will coincide with first production from Torosa and amount to around 800 petajoules over the life of the project, helping to secure the State’s energy future,” Mr Barnett said. In addition, the Browse Joint Venture has committed to the development of an integrated supply chain in WA to provide port, marine, aviation, storage and transport services over the life of the project.

The Key Principles Agreement will form the basis of a detailed Development Agreement, to be finalised prior to the joint venture making its final investment decision, expected in late 2016.