BP will sell a 5pc stake in the $35bn Browse gas fields offshore Western Australia (WA), with South Korean private-sector firm GS Energy joining the project to help backfill the 14.3mn t/yr North West Shelf LNG terminal.
BP will retain a 39.33pc working interest in Browse joint venture (JV) post-transaction, a BP spokesperson said on 2 June, describing GS as a "committed partner" that complements the substantial work already completed to advance the project as it progresses towards the front-end engineering and design (FEED) stage. The deal is conditional upon regulatory and JV approvals.
Australian independent Woodside Energy is the operator and holds a 30.6pc stake in Browse alongside BP, Japan's Mimi — a joint venture between Mitsui and Mitsubishi — which owns 14.4pc, while state-owned PetroChina controls 10.67pc. PetroChina is planning to sell its share to Japanese firm Inpex, it said last month.
Inpex already operates the 9.3mn t/yr Ichthys JV and holds a 17.5pc stake in the Shell-operated 3.6mn t/yr Prelude floating LNG facility, both of which are located in the Browse basin.
South Korea is considered a critical energy partner for Australia. Australia was the top LNG exporter to South Korea in both 2024 and 2025, shipping 14.68mn t in 2025, up by 29pc from 11.4mn t in 2024.
South Korea was Australia's largest gasoil supplier in 2025, data from Australian Petroleum Statistics show, shipping about 150,000 b/d, mainly to the east coast.
Australia also shipped about 10pc, or 20.5mn t, of its thermal coal exports to South Korea last year. At the same time, it imports around 30pc of its gasoil cargoes from South Korean refiners — a supply that is critical to keeping its mining and agriculture sectors operational, as it lacks domestic refining capacity to meet demand.
The addition of Japanese and South Korean partners to the Browse JV may help spur progress on the controversial project, as north Asian importers seek to secure non-Middle East supplies in the wake of the US-Iran war, while Canberra similarly moves to lock-in oil product imports.
Browse ‘critical': WA
With a forecast production capacity of 11.4mn t/yr across LNG, LPG and domestic gas and a peak condensate production rate of 50,000 b/d, Browse is considered Australia's single largest untapped oil and gas project.
But the JV's plans for the field are already facing headwinds from a national environmental campaign alleging potential damage from the project's emissions and to the nearby Scott Reef, a remote shoal system.
Proponents include WA premier Roger Cook, who has warned that Browse is critical to the state's domestic gas supply, as the NWS project includes the 630 TJ/d capacity Karratha Gas Plant (KGP).
Production at KGP has dipped since mid-2020 due to natural field depletion. Woodside's share of NWS' LNG production has also fallen to 2.94mn t in 2025, down from 3.64mn t a year earlier, after it retired a 2.5mn t/yr train at the terminal in late 2024.
