Woodside was also completing LNG sales agreements for its wholly owned Pluto LNG project, which could come onstream before the end of 2010, Voelte said in a speech he made to the APEC Forum in Sydney last Friday that was released to the market yesterday.

Woodside said last week its Brecknock-2 appraisal well at its Browse fields found gas over a depth of about 151 metres and flowed at a maximum rate of 44 million cubic feet a day in a test. A recent appraisal well drilled at Pluto also found gas.

The Pluto project could have a capacity of 5 million to 7 million tonnes of LNG a year, while the Browse hub might produce 7 million to 14 million tonnes a year. BHP Billiton, Chevron and Shell also have stake in Browse but Woodside is the major partner (50%) and operator.

Australia’s next tranche of major gas projects will come into production at a time of rising gas prices, Voelte said.

He warned the APEC Forum that Asian markets would have to pay more for gas to bring them in line with price surges in the US.

Voelte said Asian LNG prices reflected a supply overhang in the late 1990s and the early part of this decade.

"This overhang has now largely evaporated and as LNG becomes more and more a global commodity, the increase in US gas prices is likely to significantly increase the upward pressure on Asia-Pacific gas prices," he said.

Late last year Woodside missed out on a medium-term contract to supply LNG to Korea. But Voelte said at the time that he was not concerned as demand was growing and Australia would remain cost-competitive.

Voelte told the APEC forum that China's demand for LNG was expected to increase 600% by 2015 while the US market for gas was expected to grow from 22 trillion cubic feet a year to 30 trillion by 2025. This would equate to more than 140 million tonnes a year of additional LNG production.

He said Australia was well positioned to supply growing demand in the APEC region, which includes East Asia and the US.