Woodside Petroleum has warned that a carbon tax would be passed onto WA natural gas customers.

The energy group also wants its LNG exports exempted from any carbon pricing agreement.

In a brief position note yesterday on the Gillard Government's proposal to price carbon, potentially within 15 months, Woodside has mirrored comments from business lobby groups by calling for trade-exposed exports to be excluded given the absence of any global agreement on greenhouse gas emissions.

It added: "The company accepts the Government's intention to put a price on emissions associated with products consumed domestically such as natural gas, but recognises this will lead to an increase in costs for consumers."

Details of the Government's proposals are thin on the ground, though Ms Gillard indicated in an interview with _The Weekend West _that the carbon tax may only initially apply to electricity generators under a phased sector-by-sector introduction of the impost.

This would reduce the immediate impact on miners and trade-exposed industries such as WA's multi-billion-dollar LNG sector.

Woodside has been a prominent and aggressive contributor to the debate on greenhouse gas emissions and an emissions trading scheme, mainly through its chief executive, Don Voelte.

Late last year, Mr Voelte, who will surrender the reins at Woodside this year, was appointed to a new business roundtable established by the government to provide economic and business advice on the introduction of a carbon price.