By Ron Bousso and Marwa Rashad
LONDON - Woodside Energy expects to bring several partners into its Louisiana liquefied natural gas development by the time the company gives the financial go-ahead to the U.S. project in the first quarter of 2025, its CEO told Reuters.
Australia-listed Woodside is seeking to sell a 50% stake in the Louisiana LNG project, which it fully owns following the $1.2 billion acquisition of developer Tellurian Inc in October. The U.S. Gulf Coast facility could convert U.S. shale gas into up to 27.7 million tons per annum of LNG.
Woodside has held talks with U.S. natural gas producers, traditional LNG buyers who take an equity stake and LNG supplies from the project as well as infrastructure-focused investors seeking steady revenue over a long time, CEO Meg O'Neill told Reuters.
Announcements on new partners in the projects would be "concurrent with the FID (final investment decision) at the latest," she said.
"The goal is to put together a dream team where everybody in the partnership brings something of value. It might be an understanding of the onshore gas market, it might be infrastructure capital and LNG offtake and marketing expertise," she said.
O'Neill would not name any companies they have engaged with. Reuters reported last month that Woodside was in talks with Tokyo Gas on a stake in the project, citing people familiar with the matter.
O'Neill said that she was "comfortable" Woodside would be able to finance its share of the development costs from its own balance sheet.
Woodside will lock in natural gas supplies after final investment decision on the project, which is expected to start production in 2028, O'Neill said.
The project is estimated to cost around $900 to $960 per ton of LNG after re-negotiating the development contract with service company Bechtel, O'Neill added.
"There are some inflationary pressures, both in the supply chain and the labor market," she said.
(Rerporting by Ron Bousso and Marwa Rashad; editing by David Evans)