PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Oil and gas major Woodside has agreed to double its supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Uniper Global Commodities under amendments to a binding long-term sales and purchase agreement inked at the end of 2019.

Initial supply will start in 2021, with Woodside to supply up to one-million tonnes a year of LNG, increasing to two-million tonnes a year from 2026. The company said on Monday that the majority of the LNG supply from 2025 would be conditional upon a final investment decision on the development of the Scarborough gas resource, offshore Western Australia.

The 13-year term of the Uniper offtake agreement would remain unchanged.

Woodside CEO Peter Coleman told shareholders that the expansion of the existing agreement with Uniper demonstrated further progress towards a final investment decision for Scarborough.

“Scarborough is a globally competitive, capital efficient LNG development which supports the decarbonisation ambitions of our customers. We expect the timing to be right for final investment decisions on Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 in the second half of this year,” he added.

Coleman said that the agreement with Uniper highlighted the strong market demand for Scarborough LNG, as customers considered their energy requirements from the second half of the decade.

“We have now secured long-term customers for over 40% of our expected Scarborough equity production,” said Coleman.

Woodside previously said that first production from the Scarborough gasfield has been targeted for 2026. The company at the start of last year reported a 52% increase in the resource volume at the Scarborough field, from 7.3-trillion cubic feet to 11.1-trillion cubic feet.

“Woodside and Uniper share a commitment to innovatively deliver a low carbon future. Our agreement with Uniper strengthens our common goal of supplying affordable, clean energy to customers in Asia and beyond.”