* Scarborough floating LNG project seen at risk
* Planned LNG projects hurt by near-50 pct fall in Asia LNGprices
* Australia's plan to become top LNG exporter still on track
By Sonali Paul and Henning Gloystein
MELBOURNE/SINGAPORE, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Planned Australianliquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, including thecostly Scarborough floating vessel, are at risk as sinkingenergy prices make investments unviable, analysts said.
A nearly 50 percent slump in Asian LNG prices
The next cab off that rank could be ExxonMobil andBHP Billiton's $10 billion Scarborough project.
Scarborough will be "commercially challenging" to justifygiven a raft of competing LNG projects, said Noel Tomnay, globalgas and LNG research head at Wood Mackenzie.
"China's growing pains as well as slugs of LNG coming intothe market: that's a fairly wicked combination. It would take avery brave soul to ignore the prevailing market."
BHP and ExxonMobil were not available for comment.
The future for other Australian LNG projects without FID isalso uncertain.
GDF Suez and Santos are seekingalternatives for their Bonaparte floating project, Woodside hasindefinitely delayed its Sunrise project, while Shell has yet tocommit to its Arrow project where it has cut hundreds ofpositions.
"I suspect most people will be hunkering down and trying toget a real handle on how long and how far this situation willpersist," Origin Energy CEO Grant King said, referringto falling energy prices.
Origin plans to start-up the $25 billion Australia PacificLNG project next year and has taken steps to shore up its cashposition.
For existing or under-construction projects, low prices meansmaller operating margins.
"They won't be loss making, but just won't make as much asthey otherwise would have done," Tomnay said.
Shell's Prelude floating facility, set to start up in 2017as the world's biggest maritime vessel, will likely go ahead asit is already being built.
Despite the tougher outlook, Australia's plan to become thetop LNG exporter remains on track.
With projects under construction going ahead as companiestreat them as sunk cost, Australia's LNG export capacity is setto more than triple to 86 million tonnes a year before 2020,putting it ahead of current leader Qatar which exports 77million tonnes annually and U.S. expectations of selling 61.5million tonnes per year by 2020. (Additional reporting by Jim Regan in Sydney; Editing by HimaniSarkar)