Woodside Petroleum signs stand at Gastech in Chiba, Japan, on April 4, 2017.Toru Hanai/Reuters
Australia’s Woodside Energy said on Tuesday it will record a 720-million Australian-dollar charge in its fiscal 2019 results in relation to Kitimat liquefied natural gas assets in Canada.
Woodside said in September it would scale down its investment in the Canadian project to reduce capital expenditure. Woodside owns 50 per cent of the Kitimat project, which is operated by Chevron Corp.
The U.S. oil and gas major reported a large fourth-quarter loss last month as it took around US$10-billion in writedowns on properties that were no longer economical, including the Kitimat LNG assets.
“The impairment reflects increased uncertainty, particularly in the timing of the development of the upstream Liard resource, following sustained depressed gas market conditions in Western Canada,” Woodside said in a statement.
The Kitimat project encompasses upstream resource assets in the Liard and Horn River basins in northeastern British Columbia and a natural gas liquefaction facility.
Woodside forecast higher output for fiscal 2020 in an operational update in January and said it has stepped up work on growth projects in a bid to triple its oil and gas reserves over a decade.
The company is due to report its results on Thursday.