PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The proposed Browse floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project has been given more certainty after the Commonwealth-Western Australia offshore petroleum joint authority renewed five commonwealth retention leases that were earmarked for the project.

Industry and Science Minister Ian Macfarlane said that the decision was made jointly by the commonwealth government and the Western Australian Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Marmion.

“This recognises the proposed project’s significant development potential and supports the joint venture’s (JV's) investment decisions including its recent announcement to enter into the front-end engineering and design (Feed) phase,” Macfarlane said.

Australian oil and gas major Woodside recently announced that the project would move to the Feed phase, after the Browse JV participants entered into a domestic gas and supply chain principal agreement with the state government.

The Browse FLNG development concept was based on three FLNG facilities using project partner Shell’s technology and Woodside’s offshore development expertise to commercialise the Brecknock, Calliance and Torosa fields, which have contingent resources of 15.4-trillion cubic feet of dry gas and 453-million barrels of condensate.

Macfarlane said this week that the state and commonwealth governments have been working closely with the Browse JV to ensure that they had the right approvals and frameworks to allow for the investment to proceed.

“Our governments are conscious of the need to ensure these valuable resources can be developed in a manner that is commercially viable and maximises benefits to the Australian community.

“The global gas market is increasingly competitive and governments and industry must continue to work together to ensure Australia remains an investment destination of choice for LNG supply to the burgeoning Asia-Pacific regional economy.”

Marmion, meanwhile, highlighted the importance of timely development of petroleum resources to Western Australia, saying that the importance of the oil and gas sector to the state’s economy could not be overstated.

“Western Australia is committed to working closely with the commonwealth to ensure the timely and efficient development of this resource which will deliver enduring benefits for all Western Australians.”

Woodside was targeting a final investment decision on the Browse project by the second half of 2016.