Cabnberra backs floating gas hub
The Federal Government has paved the way for the Woodside Browse consortium to pursue a floating LNG development off the Kimberley coast after yesterday agreeing to drop a demand that the gas be processed at James Price Point, north of Broome.
Federal Resources Minister Gary Gray said that his decision was based on the "unfortunate commercial reality" that building an onshore gas processing plant was not economically viable.
He said it was imperative the Federal Government, which has control over five of the seven offshore leases that cover the Browse Basin gasfields, agreed to the Woodside consortium's request for the onshore demand to be dropped to ensure the massive gas resource was developed before the end of this decade, when a glut of new liquefied natural gas volumes from east Africa, Russia and North America are expected to challenge Australia's industry leadership.
Premier Colin Barnett, a vocal opponent of FLNG, has yet to tell the Woodside consortium whether the State will toe Canberra's line.
