The deal fills a hole in Woodside's growth pipeline which has been making investors nervous since the commissioning of Pluto LNG in 2012, and signifies confidence in the revival of energy prices.

Woodside will acquire Apache's 13% interest in Wheatstone and its 65% interest in the Julimar and Brunello gas fields feeding the project.

The company will also attain 65% in the Balnaves oil project adjacent to Brunello, which will produce via a subsea development through a dedicated floating production, storage and offloading vessel.

Finally, Woodside will nab 50% of Kitimat, including about 320,000 acres in the Horn River and Liard Basins.

"We have taken a disciplined and patient approach to identifying the right growth investment," Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said.

"We are now in a position to take advantage of challenging market conditions and use cash reserves and existing debt facilities to acquire very high quality assets.

"Our capital commitments on both sanctioned projects and sustaining capital are expected to be at a low level of approximately $800 million each year over the next three years."

According to Apache, the Julimar and Brunello fields are expected to unlock more than 2.1 trillion cubic feet of sales gas, generating net sales of about 140 million cubic feet per day of LNG, 22MMcfd of sales gas into the domestic market and 3,250 barrels of condensate per day.

Chevron-led Wheatstone will produce about 8.9 tonnes of LNG per year once finished, with commissioning slated for 2016.

Kitimat, which is less advanced, will also see Woodside buddy up with Chevron in British Columbia.

The Canadian project has approvals to export up to 10 million tonnes of LNG per year and will be the first project of its size in the country to compete with Australia and the US for the Asia-Pacific market.

Apache chairman and CEO Streven Farris said in a statement that the company would use the proceeds of the sale to reduce debt, repurchase shares and consider new acquisitions.

The deal is long anticipated win for Woodside, which has seen a number of potential growth options slide from its grasp this year.

The much talked about Leviathan LNG project in Israel collapsed after the project partners there called for a higher price, while the company was forced by shareholders to abandon its buy-back proposal for Shell's remaining shares in the company.

Add to this the abandoned James Price Point LNG plant and the indefinite deferral of expansion plans at Pluto and this latest deal starts to grow in significance.

Financial close on the acquisition is expected by the end of the first quarter next year.

Woodside intends to fully fund the transaction using existing cash and debt, however Coleman would not rule out raising more debt towards the new assets in future.