The Woodside-led partners in the Browse liquefied natural gas project in Australia have pushed out a final investment decision until the first half of 2021, but are on schedule to award front-end engineering and design contracts before the end of this year.

Woodside said in its latest guidance that pushing out the project sanction from late 2020 would allow an appropriate period for FEED studies that would be "consistent with the scale of the project".

The operator confirmed it aims to start the FEED phase before the end of 2019, and that the project ready-for-start-up targets remain unchanged.

The US$15 billion foundation phase of the Browse project will include two giant floating production, storage and offloading vessels; a 900-kilometre subsea gas export pipeline; and an extensive array of subsea production equipment.

Three separate FEED contracts will be awarded — one for the FPSOs, one for the gas export pipeline, and an integrated contract covering the subsea production system and the umbillicals, risers and flowlines.

KBR is said to be the hot favourite to land the FEED contract for the two FPSOs, which will be 360-metre-long, 90,000-tonne newbuilds with planned throughput capacity of more than 1 billion cubic feet per day of gas.

KBR previously carried out a concept definition study on Browse, while IntecSea Engineering did conceptual work beforehand.

Another major workscope linked to the FPSOs is the internal turret mooring systems. Sources have said turret majors such as SBM Offshore will be strong contenders for Browse.

As for the FEED contract for the subsea production system plus umbilicals, risers and flowlines, two bidding groups are in a fierce competition for this large workscope.

TechnipFMC and the One Subsea-Subsea 7 alliance have submitted their FEED offers and are now in bid clarifications with Woodside, said sources.

The giant offshore pipeline component — the 900-kilometre, 42-inch main trunkline and an 85-kilometre interfield spur line — is the subject of a third bidding contest which sources said is between Worley, Wood and Atteris, which had earlier performed the subsea concept definition engineering for Browse.

The mighty gas export pipeline will run from the Browse fields to the existing North West Shelf LNG facility, which will receive and convert Browse gas into LNG.

The export pipeline will transport dry gas and will navigate subsea features in water depths up to 550 metres; seabed sand waves and undulations that may require pre and/or post-lay corrections; and crossings by other operators.

Woodside said in its latest guidance the prolonged negotiations between the Browse joint venture and the North West Shelf venture on a gas processing agreement are ongoing, with a settlement hoped for by the time FEED begins.

Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman has expressed his dissatisfaction with the protracted nature of the negotiations, which he had hoped to wrap up in mid-2019.

Coleman pointed his finger at the two companies in the North West Shelf joint venture that are not in Browse — Chevron and BHP — urging them to put self-interest aside.

The Browse joint venture comprises Woodside on 30.6%, Shell on 27%, BP on 17.33%, Mitsubishi-Mitsui (MiMi) on 14.4% and PetroChina on 10.67%.

The six equal-sharing North West Shelf co-owners are Woodside, Shell, BP, Chevron, BHP Billiton and Japan LNG (MiMi).

The Browse project covers three fields — Torosa, Brecknock and Calliance — in water depths of up to 750 metres.

They contain a combined best estimate contingent resource of 13.9 trillion cubic feet of gas and 390 million barrels of condensate.

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Woodside delays Browse sanction to 2021