Woodside Petroleum Ltd’s
(ASX:WPL) $30 billion Browse liquefied natural gas hub in Western Australia has been the thumbs up from the state government, though is facing mounting criticism from environmental campaigners.
According to an Australian Associated Press report, on Monday the Department of State Development recommended the project proceed, and called for public submissions, pending final approval from federal and Western Australian environment ministers.
The Western Australian government says establishing a single common-user Browse precinct would offer economic benefits to the surrounding communities as well as reducing the development footprint compared to multiple stand-along LNG processing facilities.
However environmental activist organisations such as The Wilderness Society and Greenpeace have rejected the move, on grounds that the area is too ecologically precious for significant industrial development.
Woodside Petroleum lifted its net profit to $1.06 billion in fiscal 2010.
