Woodside open to considering LNG plant in Timor for Sunrise gas

Woodside open to contemplating LNG plant in Timor for Dawn fuel

MELBOURNE, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Woodside Vitality Group mentioned for the primary time on Thursday it was prepared to contemplate sending fuel from the massive Larger Dawn subject to East Timor, as a substitute of its long-preferred possibility of Darwin in Australia.

Woodside, operator of Dawn within the waters between East Timor and northwest Australia, has argued it might be cheaper to develop the useful resource by sending the fuel to Darwin, though it’s farther away, because it has port and liquefied pure fuel (LNG) infrastructure.

However the Timor authorities has been urgent for an LNG plant to be constructed on its shores to ramp up improvement of its small economic system, which is about to lose its predominant income, the depleted Bayu Undan fuel subject.

Woodside Chief Govt Meg O’Neill mentioned on Thursday new know-how is on the market, together with modular LNG, that didn’t exist when growing a challenge in Timor was beforehand evaluated.

“So the Timorese are very eager to have that improvement in nation. And we recognise it is an essential nationwide challenge for them,” O’Neill informed analysts at a briefing. “So we really feel prefer it’s applicable to reopen the idea analysis, perceive the applied sciences, perceive the technical challenges.”

She didn’t focus on value estimates however mentioned East Timor may search exterior funding to assist pay for the infrastructure it might have to construct from scratch.

“Timor Leste has a number of worldwide mates, and worldwide mates could wish to assist with a few of that infrastructure that does not exist immediately in Timor that might exist if we went to Darwin,” O’Neill mentioned.

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta mentioned in September Indonesia, South Korea, Japan and China might be concerned with investing within the fuel subject, found in 1974, which holds 5.3 trillion cubic ft of fuel and 226 million barrels of condensate. (Reporting by Sonali Paul; Enhancing by William Mallard)