Oil company Woodside Petroleum Ltd
(ASX:WPL) proposed site for the development of its Browse Basin operation has hit a snag after reports that the Kimberley Aborigines say they will not be pressured into a deal within the timeframe allocated by the Federal Government.
According to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald the Federal Government has given Woodside and project partners BHP, Shell, BP and Chevron until April to make a decision on a site for the Browse Basin development.
The paper says an in-principle agreement was reached with the Kimberley Land Council and Aborigines last April which would see the traditional landowners receive close to $1 billion in compensation over 30 years.
Woodside Petroleum earned $1.786 billion in calendar 2008.
