Wheatstone LNG on track for investment approval in 2011BRISBANE,...

Wheatstone LNG on track for investment approval in 2011

BRISBANE, Australia, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. oil giant Chevron (CVX.N) is sticking to the existing timetable for its Wheatstone liquefied natural gas project in Australia, the firm said on Monday, despite the nation's new mining tax. The Australian government has hit the resources industry with a planned 40 percent windfall-profits tax, forcing some of them them to review major projects or extend development timetables until their concerns over the tax are resolved.

Chevron Australia Managing Director Roy Krzywosinski told an energy conference he was assessing the impact of the tax but said the firm was still on track to make a final investment decision on the Wheatstone project in 2011. The Wheatstone project has yet to be costed by Chevron but is often quoted in media reports as being worth around A$20 billion ($17.7 billion), among roughly $200 billion worth of LNG projects on the drawing board in Australia.

Santos Ltd (STO.AX), Australia's-second largest oil and gas producer, said this month it would defer for up to six months a decision on whether to build an LNG export terminal in Gladstone in Queensland state, as it assesses the impact of the tax.

The new tax is to be introduced in 2012 and will not apply to oil-and-gas producers operating in Australian waters, which already pay a 40 percent petroleum resource rent tax.

The two taxes are calculated differently and owners of offshore oil-and-gas operations have the option of swapping their petroleum tax for the new tax.

Chevron plans to ship first gas out of its 8.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) Wheatstone project as early as 2016. It has inked preliminary sales of 4.1 mtpa to Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T) and 0.8 mtpa to Kyushu Electric Power Co (9508.T).

On its massive A$43 billion Gorgon LNG export project in Australia, which was approved last year, Chevron said on Monday it had awarded more than A$22 billion in contracts and was on track for first LNG shipments as early as 2014. (Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by Mark Bendeich)