By Christine Chen and Roshan Thomas
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Woodside Energy , Australia’s top gas producer, said on Wednesday it was assessing the impact of U.S. tariffs and other trade measures on its Louisiana liquefied natural gas plant project as it inches towards a final go-ahead.
Woodside (OTC:WOPEY) acquired the project, formerly called Driftwood, from Tellurian (NYSE:TELL) for $1.2 billion last year to position itself as a “global LNG powerhouse”. The first of four development phases is expected to cost $16 billion.
In a quarterly update, CEO Meg O’Neill said the company was “assessing the potential impacts of recent tariff announcements and potential further trade measures on Louisiana LNG”, after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed universal tariffs on nearly all trading partners this month.
O’Neill said the plant was in a foreign-trade zone which allowed it to defer payment of tariffs until each LNG train was completed.
However, around half of the equipment and materials needed to develop the project would need to be imported.
“Around 25% of Louisiana LNG’s estimated capital expenditure is equipment and materials, approximately half of which is currently expected to be sourced from the U.S.,” she said.
"If energy prices come under further pressure as a result of tariff-related growth pressures, it could make things trickier for Woodside down the track," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade Global.
To improve the project’s economics, Woodside announced earlier this month it sold a 40% interest in Louisiana LNG’s export terminal to U.S. investment firm Stonepeak, funding 75% of the project’s spending in 2025 and 2026. It also signed its first offtake agreement with Germany’s Uniper for 1 million tonnes per annum last week.
“We are pleased with the strong level of interest from potential strategic partners and are advancing discussions targeting further equity sell-down,” O’Neill said.
“We are progressing at pace towards a final investment decision on Louisiana LNG, positioning Woodside as a global LNG powerhouse.”
The update comes as the company reported revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter ended March 31 on strong gas hub-linked prices and the start-up of its Senegal-based Sangomar project.
The result beat a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $2.79 billion and was up 13% from the $2.95 billion reported a year ago.
On a quarterly basis, the firm reported a decline of 5% in revenue, attributed to a fall in oil-linked prices, cyclone impacts at its North West Shelf project and unplanned train outages at its Pluto LNG project.
Shares of the company rose as much as 3.9% to A$20.470 as of 0036 GMT, while the broader energy sub-index gained 3.1%, tracking a rise in global oil prices.
Woodside kept its 2025 production and capital expenditure forecast unchanged.