Woodside suspends Californian LNG project

Woodside Natural Gas announced that it was suspending work on its proposed natural gas import project for the Los Angeles region, citing changed energy market conditions. Woodside Natural Gas President Steve Larson said the current conditions were not right for the proposed development.
"We still believe in the long term value of liquefied natural gas as a new source of clean, reliable, and secure energy for Los Angeles," Larson said. "But we must acknowledge the impact of the current market, and have notified the regulatory agencies that we are withdrawing our application for the time being."

"We are very grateful for the support we received from many local community members, organized labour and the Los Angeles business community. While the permitting process in California and Los Angeles is challenging, we were confident that, with the overall environmental and safety attributes of our design, our application would ultimately succeed."
The OceanWay project design included an offshore ship and buoy system to deliver natural gas by ship far removed from population centres and shipping lanes.

"As the state's climate change policies continue to evolve, we know they will only strengthen the role for natural gas as part of California's clean air solution," Larson said.
The project was being publicly reviewed in a comprehensive environmental and safety review process that began when Woodside Natural Gas submitted applications in 2006 to the US Coast Guard for a Deepwater Port license and to the City of Los Angeles for a pipeline franchise.

Woodside Natural Gas is a subsidiary of Woodside, a publicly traded company with market capitalization of about $ 17 bn, worldwide offices, and more than 3,000 employees.