Woodside secures Broome Browse option

The Broome Port Authority has signed a leasing agreement with Woodside that it hopes will position Broome as the major supply base for future gas projects off the Kimberley coast, including Woodside's proposed Browse Basin project.

The prospect of major developments in the area gained a boost earlier this year when Woodside and the state government signed deals with local indigenous groups paving the way for the establishment of a gas processing hub at James Price Point, just north of Broome.

The announcement is below:

The Broome Port Authority has signed an Option to Lease Agreement with Woodside Energy Ltd for up to 15 hectares of land at the Broome Port which will be used to service and support the proposed Browse LNG Development.

The three year Option to Lease Agreement has been approved by the Minister for Transport, the Honourable Simon O'Brien, MLC and was signed by the parties in a ceremony today at the Broome Port.

Broome Port Authority Chairman Ian Burston welcomed the deal and said he was looking forward to a new chapter in an already long and successful working relationship with Woodside.

"The agreement with Woodside paves the way for other interested parties to also secure strategically important land at the Broome Port to meet their future growth needs, Mr Burston said.

"The Port has a record of service dating back over 30 years to the offshore oil and gas industry and this agreement is a testament to that. Our first-rate facilities, reputation for providing excellent service and close proximity to the Browse gas fields ensures that the Broome Port will continue to meet the growing demands of oil and gas companies such as Woodside," he said.

Woodside will have an option period of three years in which to execute the minimum 25 year lease, the terms of which have been agreed.