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By Florence Tan
DAEGU, South Korea Oct 15 (Reuters) - Woodside Petroleum could build three floating liquefied natural gas (LNG)plants for its Browse project, the chief executive ofAustralia's biggest oil and gas firm said on Tuesday.
The firm, which plans to make a final investment decisionon the project in 2015, scrapped a $45 billion onshore proposalfor Browse this year and opted for cheaper floating LNG plants.
"The next big signal for the marketplace is when the projectenters front end engineering and design which we hope will be inthe middle of next year," CEO Peter Coleman told Reuters.
"The basis is three floating vessels for Browse. That willbe firmed up as we finalise the basis of our design."
With $190 billion worth of LNG projects underway, Australiais set to become the world's largest LNG exporter by the end ofthe decade, but more than half of the seven LNG plants currentlyunder construction have suffered large cost blowouts.
According to analyst estimates, choosing to use floating LNGtechnology would mean a cost savings of 20 percent.
Woodside has already signed on Shell, a jointventure partner and considered to be the global front-runner infloating LNG technology, to develop the Browse gas fields. Otherjoint venture partners include BP Plc, PetroChina, Mitsui & Co and Mitsubishi Corp.
The Australian company also plans to take part in the nextbidding round for offshore exploration blocks in Myanmar whereWoodside's expertise lies, Coleman said, in addition to the twoblocks that the company participated through joint ventures.
"We are running seismic tests and hope to drill a welleither next year or 2015," Coleman said.
