世界最大的燃气项目（澳大利亚天然气扩建项目斯卡伯勒和冥王星即将建设）

伍德赛德石油有限公司(Woodside Petroleum Ltd.)推迟澳大利亚Browse天然气项目的建设，但对规模较小的斯卡伯勒天然气项目的要求提前建设，以填补全球供应的预期缺口。

伍德赛德是澳大利亚最大的独立天然气生产商。该公司表示，目前计划在2021年上半年对Browse项目做出最终投资决定，比原计划2020年底推迟了一年。

不过Woodside表示，目前准备在2020年初批准110亿美元的斯卡伯勒(Scarborough)天然气项目和冥王星(Pluto)液化天然气扩建项目，而不是原定的2020年上半年。

Woodside首席财务官Sherry Duhe在接受路透采访时表示:"我们对此次制定的时间表感到非常满意和有信心。"

“我们的竞争是全球性的，”Duhe补充道。“目前全球液化天然气行业的趋势是，一旦度过2021年、2022年，就会出现供应缺口。我们相信，我们的项目将在2022年建成。”

冥王星液化天然气

斯卡伯勒项目能否更快完成，取决于伍德赛德与其合作伙伴必和必拓集团就冥王星气田天然气的价格是否达成协议。

Duhe表示，必和必拓面临着在年底前敲定收费协议的压力，他指出，必和必拓有一项将在12月31日到期的选择权，即将其在思嘉堡的持股比例提高10%至35%。

“我们只是在最后收费上讨价还价，”Duhe说。

“时间绝对对我们有利，现在就去签署协议，这样我们就能在明年初就斯卡伯勒和冥王星的问题达成最终投资决定。”

必和必拓没有立即对斯卡伯勒的计划发表评论。该公司此前曾表示，它认为该项目是一个有吸引力的低风险机会，但与其它一些增长选择相比，回报率较低。

Browse天然气项目

Browse是澳大利亚西北海域外最大的未开发天然气资源。有关Browse项目的讨论更为复杂，因为该项目涉及多个合作伙伴，以及相关的西大陆架(West Shelf)液化天然气工厂，只有部分所有权重叠。

雪佛龙(cvx . n:行情)和必和必拓是Browse项目的股东，而中石油是Browse项目的股东，但不是Browse项目的股东。伍德赛德、荷兰皇家壳牌(Royal Dutch Shell)、英国石油公司(BP Plc)、日本Mitusbishi Corp和三井物产(Mitsui & Co)等其他利益相关者都在观望。

Woodside表示，仍预期合作夥伴能在今年年底前完成Browse的初步设计工作。

Duhe称，Woodside还计划在今年年底前批准其价值30亿美元的塞内加尔石油项目，之后将与合作夥伴FAR Ltd就Woodside在该项目中的持股进行仲裁。

Duhe说:“我们没有看到这以任何方式中断我们推进FID和建设的计划。”

Woodside周四公布第三季营收为11.6亿美元，与上年同期持平，但产量增加被液化天然气价格下滑所抵消。

(Sonali Paul在墨尔本报道，Rashmi Ashok在班加罗尔报道;(编辑:Jane Wardell)

Woodside Petroleum Ltd has pushed out the final approval date for its mammoth Browse gas project but slightly brought forward plans to sign off on its smaller Scarborough project as it races to fill an anticipated global supply gap.

Woodside, Australia's top independent gas producer, said it is now targeting a final investment decision on the $20.5 billion Browse project in the first half of 2021 as it continues to wrangle with its partners. It had previously expected approval in late 2020.

However, Woodside also said it now aims to sign off on the $11 billion Scarborough gas project and Pluto LNG expansion in early 2020, as opposed to the first half of 2020.

"We feel very motivated and confident about the timetables that we've laid out," Woodside Chief Financial Officer Sherry Duhe told Reuters in an interview.

"Our competition is global," Duhe added. "The entire global LNG community has obviously seen that there's a supply gap that's sitting out there once we get past 2021, 2022, and we believe that our projects are perfectly timed."

The faster timetable for the Scarborough project is dependent on Woodside reaching an agreement with its partner BHP Group on a price for processing gas from the field at the Pluto plant.

Pressure is on BHP to finalise a tolling agreement before the end of the year, Duhe said, noting that BHP has an option that expires on Dec. 31 to increase its stake in Scarborough by 10% to 35%.

"We're just haggling on the final bit of pricing on the toll," Duhe said.

"Time is definitely working in all of our favour now to just go ahead and ink that deal so that we can move to FID (final investment decision) in early next year on both Scarborough and Pluto."

BHP had no immediate comment on its plans for Scarborough. It has previously said it sees the project as an attractive low risk opportunity but with lower returns compared to some of its other growth options.

BROWSE TALKS

Discussions on Browse, the biggest undeveloped gas resource off northwestern Australia, are more complicated as they involve several partners in both the field and the associated West Shelf LNG plant, with only some overlap in ownership.

Chevron Corp and BHP are stakeholders in the LNG plant but not Browse, and PetroChina is in Browse but not the LNG plant. The other stakeholders -- Woodside, Royal Dutch Shell , BP Plc and Japan's Mitusbishi Corp and Mitsui & Co are on both sides of the fence.

Woodside said it still expects the partners to be able to hit go on preliminary engineering for Browse, which has been stuck on the drawing board for years, by the end of this year.

Duhe said Woodside also aims to sign off on its $3 billion Senegal oil project before the end of this year, ahead of a ruling on an arbitration with its partner FAR Ltd over Woodside's stake in the project.

"We don't see that in any way interrupting our plans to move forward to FID and into construction," Duhe said.

Woodside on Thursday reported third-quarter revenue of $1.16 billion, unchanged from a year earlier, with higher production offset by weaker LNG prices.

(Reporting by Sonali Paul in Melbourne, additional reporting by Rashmi Ashok in Bengaluru; Editing by Jane Wardell)