(Reuters) - Woodside Petroleum <WPL.AX> on Friday raised its estimate for dry gas reserves at its Scarborough project, increasing hopes the development will help drive the company's growth in the next decade.
Woodside said it now put the estimated gross contingent resource of dry gas volume at the A$11 billion Scarborough field at 11.1 trillion cubic feet, some 52% above its previous estimates.
Woodside reiterated that it expects to make a final investment decision on the project in the first half of 2020. Its chief financial officer, Sherry Duhe, told Reuters last month that the company is hoping that will be in early 2020.
"By unlocking the huge potential of the Scarborough gas resource we've strengthened the case for development and extended the expected cashflow from Scarborough for years," Woodside's Chief Executive Officer Peter Coleman said in a statement on Friday.
Scarborough, which is 75% owned by Woodside and 25% by BHP Group <BHP.AX>, is one of three major projects that the gas producer is counting on to spearhead growth in the next decade.
To help fund the project, Woodside is hoping to sell part of its 75% stake in Scarborough.
(Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Sonali Paul in Melbourne; editing by Jane Wardell)
