Woodside Energy's delayed Browse LNG project expected to cost $35 Boodside Energy's long-delayed Browse liquefied natural gas project is now expected to cost A$48.7 B ($35.2 B), according to a new report commissioned by the company.

The proposal to develop Australia's largest untapped gas resource was submitted to regulators in 2018 and was last estimated to cost A$27.3 B in 2019, but a major carbon capture and storage (CCS) component was added to the project in 2023.

The Browse project's progress has been delayed by environmental approvals and negotiations over a processing agreement.

An economic impact assessment by Deloitte commissioned by Woodside and released on Monday said the project's total capital expenditure would now be A$48.7 B. The figure used different assumptions and a different base year compared to the 2019 estimate.

"It would be one of the largest projects in Australian history based on capital expenditure," the report said, adding it would also create 3,068 full-time jobs and generate A$56.2 B in tax payments.

Woodside ​has proposed to use the Browse fields off northwest Australia to supply the ⁠aging North West Shelf LNG facility, which received a 40-yr life extension to 2070 last year.

Its CCS component also aims to inject up to ​4 metric MMtpy of carbon dioxide emissions ​back ⁠into the Browse reservoirs and to reduce direct emissions by 47%.

Environmental groups have opposed the project, arguing it would threaten the nearby Scott Reef, home to endangered pygmy blue whales and green turtles.

The environment department is due to give final advice to the government on whether to approve or reject the project as soon as next month, according to public broadcaster ABC.

Woodside's partners in Browse are bp, Japan's Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi, and the international arm of PetroChina.

($1 = 1.3831 Australian dollars)