OTHER OPTIONSWoodside Petroleum has so far been less than successful in convincing the market that Apache's surprise decision on Thursday evening to sign with Chevron's Wheatstone project instead of Woodside's Pluto project is not a big setback.
But now that that deal is done, the focus is on Woodside's other options, because it wants to make a final investment decision on the second train at Pluto by the end of next year.
There is a school of thought that Woodside is so daring these days that it could approve the second train before it secures enough gas.
It would accelerate gas from the first train and, in the meantime, find some more of its own through the drill bit and possibly some deals with third parties.
The most likely third parties are Hess, which already has found some resources in the region, and junior MEO Australia, which expects to pick a partner for its Artemis project in the area by November 18 but won't complete the first well until late October next year.
