Woodside Petroleum’s Limited
(ASX:WPL) role in Israel's Leviathan gas field is under threat, according to media reports.
The project's potential local partners are reportedly in talks to export the field's gas through pipelines to a number of neighbouring countries.
Woodside inked a $US1.3 billion deal to be part of the project and operate an LNG plant.
But two Israeli project partners have announced through the Tel Aviv stock exchange that the Leviathan joint venture is in talks regarding pipeline exports to Turkey, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan.
The development increased speculation that the project’s stakeholders are increasingly exploring options that would involve exporting to neighbouring countries via pipelines at the expense of LNG capacity that would be operated by Woodside.
Woodside generated a net profit of $2.9 billion in its 2012 financial year.
