Woodside sold the project to an insubstantial company to avoid a few hundred million in decommissioning costs: now it and its competitors will pay the price.
US oil and gas supermajor Chevron is the major LNG producer in WA with its Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects and a share in the North West Shelf project.
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Chevron has surrendered in its $1B fight over interest charged on inter-company loans, leaving an emboldened ATO ready to tackle more multinationals for a predicted $10B haul.
The credibility of estimates from US giant Chevron of the tax it will pay for its LNG production has been undermined by questions from the Senate committee on corporate tax avoidance.
In early 2017 Chevron's rush to ship the first LNG from the $US54 billion Gorgon project to meet its chief executive's deadline had disastrous consequences.
The first two processing facilities at the Gorgon LNG project are operating near capacity and commissioning of the final train is under way, with production expected early in the second quarter of 2017.
Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman hopes the ramp-up of Wheatstone goes well as the Perth-based group braces for a big reduction in its domestic gas sales in 2017
Chevron’s budget and schedule for the Wheatstone LNG project face questions from significant unplanned work underway on the project’s offshore platform.
