MELBOURNE: Woodside Petroleum Ltd says it has received key approvals from the Australian and Western Australian state governments for the Scarborough gas project off the country’s north-west coast.

       The approvals for a pipeline licence and the field development plan allows Woodside to begin petroleum recovery operations from two licence areas for the Scarborough and Pluto LNG expansion projects, together expected to cost US$12bil (RM50.64bil).

       Those two approvals are among the final government approvals needed to develop Scarborough, Woodside said.

       Scarborough gas is due to be processed at the Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant where Woodside is adding a second processing unit, called Train 2.

       The company expects to produce the first LNG cargo from Scarborough gas in 2026. — Reuters