MELBOURNE, March 7 (Reuters) - Australia's Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX has dropped plans to build a liquefiednatural gas export plant at Grassy Point on Canada's west coast,choosing to focus on another Canadian LNG project, Kitimat, runby Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) CVX.N .
Woodside's rights to develop the Grassy Point LNG site,about 30 km north of Prince Rupert, expired on Jan. 15, and thecompany said on Wednesday it had decided not to renew theagreement.
"The decision was made after careful consideration of ourlong-term development strategy in Canada," Woodside said in anemailed statement after the step was initially reported byCanada's Globe and Mail.
"We are focusing on the Kitimat LNG project in which we area 50-percent partner with Chevron," Woodside said.
The company had done little work on the Grassy Point projectto export up to 20 million tonnes a year of LNG, and did notmention it in growth plans outlined last May.
The decision to scrap Grassy Point adds to a string of LNGprojects that have been delayed or shelved in Canada due to aglobal LNG supply glut.
Woodside flagged last year that Kitimat, which has a20-year, 10 million tonnes a year export licence, was part ofits growth plans for beyond 2026.
Chevron is considering selling part of its stake in Kitimat,Reuters reported this week.