Voelte said Woodside had received a number of offers from companies wanting to participate in Woodside's 100%-owned Pluto liquefied natural gas project being developed off the northwest Australian coast.

"We've had several offers from several companies to join up with Pluto," he said.

"Many different companies have seen the value of Pluto and have made offers. A lot of people have offered trades of one type or another - swaps - but we're pretty happy at this point to go alone."

The Pluto development, expected to cost up to $10 billion to develop, is scheduled to deliver its first gas to Japanese customers by 2010, only five years after discovery.

Woodside has said having sole control of the project has been integral to its development model.

Last year, Voelte told shareholders that Pluto could become one "of the world's fastest LNG projects from discovery to production if we continue at this pace".

Full control of the project was allowing Woodside to aggressively drive its development, according to Voelte.

"It is really hard to explain what it means not having partners," he said.

"We control it. And it is amazing to me what that does on a development."

Meanwhile, rumours have surfaced that that major shareholder Royal Dutch Shell might be preparing takeover bid for Woodside. Shell failed to gain control of Woodside in 2001 after Treasurer Peter Costello ruled out such a move on national interest grounds.

Shell's takeover attempt was stymied by the Australian Government, which blocked the move by citing national interest issues.

Speaking to CNBC Asia yesterday, Voelte declined to specifically comment on the takeover speculation, conceding only that if a compelling offer was made, it would have to be considered.

"If somebody made an offer, of course, that was just so much more valuable than anything that our management team thinks we could create for our company ourselves, we'd have to say that to our board of directors," he said.

But he also insisted that Woodside, Australia’s largest independent oil and gas producer and the operator of the North West Shelf liquefied natural gas venture, had a very strong outlook as standalone entity.

"I think Woodside on its own is a very viable company,” Voelte said.

“Since the 2001 takeover offer we've multiplied the share price by a factor of three. I believe we are trading at upwards of $45 now, so I think we've proved that we've created a lot of value. I personally believe there is a lot more value to create. Independently we can create tremendous value for our shareholders, going forward."