Woodside Petroleum
(ASX:WPL) has confirmed it will use a revolutionary floating liquefied natural gas technology to develop its Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea.
The Australian Financial Review says the move puts Woodside on a collision course with East Timorese Government which said it would oppose any development that involved a floating platform and did not involve piping the gas to an LNG plant on East Timor soil.
East Timor's leaders are believed to have met overnight to prepare a response to Woodside’s plan.
Woodside says the Sunrise joint venture will ''continue to work with'' Australian and East Timorese authorities to progress the project.
Floating LNG plants carry certain risks, as they’re yet to be tested anywhere in the world, however the method is being seen as advantageous for smaller projects or for gas fields that are too far from shore.
Analysts say developing Sunrise as a floating LNG project would mean first gas is unlikely until after 2018, with a final investment decision to be made in 2012.
Woodside Petroleum’s net profit increased in 2009 to $1.8 billion.
