12th Jun 2026 01:30
(Alliance News) - Woodside Energy Group Ltd on Friday said it will exercise its right to pre-empt the sale of PetroChina International Investment (Australia) Pty Ltd's 10.67% interest in the Browse joint venture to a subsidiary of Inpex Corp.
In May, Chinese state-owned energy company PetroChina announced its decision to sell its stake in the project to Tokyo-based oil and gas firm Inpex, triggering Woodside's pre-emption right.
Upon completion of the acquisition and assuming no other joint venture participant pre-empts, the Perth, Australia-based oil and gas company will increase its stake in Browse to 41.27% from 30.60%.
Located off the coast of Western Australia, Woodside said Browse is the largest undeveloped conventional gas resource in Australia, with potential annual production of 11.4 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and domestic gas.
Woodside is the operator of the offshore project and through a subsidiary London-based BP PLC has the largest interest with a 44.33% stake while Japan Australia LNG, a joint venture between Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsui & Co Ltd, holds the remaining 14.40%.
In order to acquire the additional stake, Woodside will pay USD225 million to PetroChina and reimburse cash call contributions that were made from June 30, 2025 up to the completion date.
Woodside will also make a contingent payment to PetroChina of USD175 million once the final investment decision is made to develop all of the Brecknock, Calliance and Torosa fields on or before June 30, 2032.
Chief Executive Officer Liz Westcott said: "Woodside's decision to pre-empt reflects our commitment to continue progressing the proposed Browse to North West Shelf development. We see this as a pathway to maximise long-term shareholder value.
"We will continue working with the Browse joint venture to fully evaluate development opportunities. This includes advancing technical definition, commercial arrangements and regulatory approvals. Any investment decision will be made in accordance with Woodside's capital allocation framework."
Woodside shares were down 2.3% at AUD30.81 in Sydney on Friday morning.
By Elijah Dale, Alliance News senior reporter Asia-Pacific
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Woodside EnergyBP