Woodside to Book $720mn Impairment for 2019

Woodside February 11 said it would recognise a non-cash impairment of $720mn (after tax) in relation to the Kitimat assets in western Canada for the full-year ending December 31 2019. The results will be released on February 13.

“Kitimat remains a world-class project and Woodside will continue to evaluate actively future development opportunities, including optimisation of gas supply into processing facilities. However, 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.

Woodside acquired 50% of 18mn mt/yr Kitimat LNG project in 2015 from Apache – along with the US major's interest in the Wheatstone LNG project in Australia – in a transaction valued at US$2.75bn. Chevron owns the other half of the project, but is currently exploring a sale. The partners are yet to take a final investment decision.