Woodside courts huge LNG market
Woodside chief Peter Coleman says the WA-based company is on the verge of cracking a major new market for LNG exports - India.
Mr Coleman, in India this week as part of a high-powered business delegation visiting the country with Prime Minister Tony Abbott, said Woodside could be making its first LNG exports to India in five years.
Mr Coleman said the company hoped to capitalise on the country's drive to deliver reliable electricity supplies to its population.
Currently, India gets most of its gas from the Middle East and Russia, but Woodside hopes to become a major new source of LNG for India.
Asked if he was confident Woodside would export to India, he said: "Yes. Yes I am sure we will.
"As we look to diversify our global buyer base, India is going to be an important part of that in the future I believe.
"But whether that's going to be five years or 10 years from now, I can't predict."
Mr Coleman said Woodside would have unplaced volumes of gas being produced from newly acquired fields in the US in five years.
Woodside also has acreage in Burma, which is within a short shipping distance of India.
"We haven't placed those volumes (from the US) yet, so we would be talking to Indian customers about placing those volumes at some point," he said.
Woodside will soon have new supplies of gas coming online from its Sunrise and Browse fields in WA.
Mr Abbott is in India to sign a deal clearing the way for uranium exports from Australia.
Australia has agreed to make exports even though India is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which would ban India from holding nuclear weapons.
Mr Coleman said LNG would not be a competitor to nuclear power in India but would complement nuclear as an energy source.
"The energy use requirements for India, particularly as they implement their policy initiatives around electrifying Indian homes, provide tremendous opportunities for suppliers of energy," Mr Coleman said.
He said that over the next 10 years Indian demand for LNG would triple or quadruple to about 50 million tonnes a year.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to modernise India's economy and extend regular electricity supplies to his citizens.
