Chinese Players Interested in Browse Stake

Some Chinese entities are in talks to buy upto 25 percent of Browse liquefied natural gas project, as Woodside Petroleum attempts to sell down a chunk of its equity, the Australian newspaper reported Friday.

Woodside told the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday that it was conducting a limited process to assess the potential sale of a minority portion of its 50 per cent equity stake in the Browse joint venture.

The Australian said that Woodside may cut its stake in Browse to as little as 16.67 per cent.

Woodside owns 50 per cent of the Browse venture, with the rest of the venture held by BHP Billiton (8.33 per cent), Shell (8.33 per cent), BP (16.67 per cent) and Chevron (16.67 per cent).