Woodside Looking at Canadian Gas Industry

Woodside Petroleum is in talks with companies for a potential partnership to enter Canada’s natural gas industry to tap rising Asian demand, Bloomberg has reported.

“It’s natural in an area that has the sort of hydrocarbon resource that Canada does that Woodside is in there talking to people,” Chief Executive Officer Peter Coleman said Thursday in an interview to Bloomberg, declining to name any companies.

We’re trying to understand what is the business model that would make sense for Woodside in Canada, recognizing that we’re starting a couple of years behind some competitors, he said. “Any entry into North America would require some very knowledgeable and substantial partners.”

 “British Columbia really doesn’t have material hydrocarbon production, so you are in a situation where you have a province that is still learning,” Coleman told Bloomberg. If Woodside opts to expand in North America, “you would hope that it would be to leverage our LNG expertise,” he added.