Woodside Says Will Exit Kitimat LNG Joint Venture

By Rhiannon Hoyle

SYDNEY--Woodside Petroleum Ltd. said it intends to exit its 50% interest in the proposed Kitimat liquefied natural gas development in Canada and expects associated costs to cut 2021 net profit by up to $60 million.

Woodside on Tuesday said it will either sell or wind up assets, leases and agreements for the Pacific Trail Pipeline route and the site for the proposed LNG facility at Bish Cove. Woodside will keep a position in the Liard Basin upstream gas resource, it said.

Joint venture partner and operator Chevron Corp. announced plans to leave the development in December 2019 and in March this year said it would stop funding further feasibility work.

"The Kitimat LNG proposal was designed to develop a new source of LNG to supply Asian markets in the latter part of this decade," Woodside Acting CEO Meg O'Neill said. "However, we have decided to prioritise the allocation of capital to opportunities that will deliver nearer-term shareholder value."

That includes the Scarborough LNG development in Western Australia and the Sangomar oil project offshore Senegal.

Woodside said costs of roughly $40 million to $60 million associated with leaving the venture will be excluded from underlying profit when calculating its dividend.

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-17-21 2038ET