Woodside Rules Out East Timor for Sunrise LNG, Australian Says

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Woodside Petroleum Ltd. ruled out East Timor as the location for the proposed Sunrise liquefied natural gas project, the Australian newspaper said, citing a spokeswoman it didn't identify.

Woodside told the East Timorese authorities that building a plant in East Timor wasn't commercially attractive and that it will focus on the two alternatives, piping gas to Darwin in northern Australia or building a floating plant, it said.

Alfredo Pires, East Timor's natural resources state secretary, said he hadn't been informed of the decision, which would be a ``major problem'' for his government, the Australian said. ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Osaka Gas Co. have stakes in Sunrise.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net