Woodside signs up Japan for $16.5b LNG project
Two major Japanese investors have struck a $US500 million ($763 million) deal to buy into Woodside Energy’s $16.5 billion Scarborough LNG project in Western Australia, shrugging off warnings from green groups about the environmental and commercial risks involved with the project.
The deal with Sojitz Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation also runs counter to warnings that Japanese buyers have lost confidence in Australia as a long-term supplier of LNG after a raft of policy measures against the sector under the Albanese government that cast doubt over future supply volumes.
Under the accord announced on Tuesday, the two diversified trading giants, equal partners in the Japan LNG venture, will buy a 10 per cent stake in the Scarborough gas field and they have signed up for LNG cargoes. They have also agreed to collaborate with Perth-based Woodside on clean energy ventures such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.
Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill said the deal underscores Japanese demand for new gas supplies. Trevor Collens
The Japanese pair will reimburse Woodside for their share of costs spent on the LNG project since the effective date of the deal at the start of 2022, bringing the total payment to about $US880 million when it is expected to be completed in the March quarter of 2024.
The agreement comes after a longstanding effort by Woodside to bring in partners to Scarborough, an 11.1 trillion cubic feet gas field about 435km off the WA coast that will supply its expanded Pluto LNG plant near Karratha.
It contrasts with the increasing concern being voiced by Japanese investors over government intervention against the gas sector in Australia, although Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill last month said she
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