The Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) share price is up 4.1% to $31.05 today after the oil and LNG giant announced concrete plans to expand its flagship Pluto LNG operations in offshore Western Australia.
Woodside reported it has appointed an engineering contractor, Bechtel, to undertake front end engineering design for a "Pluto 2" LNG train as it attempts to further exploit the potential of its Scarborough gas resource offshore tenement. Woodside expects to have the "Pluto 2" train ready for start-up by 2024.
Woodside remains the ASX's pre-eminent energy business largely thanks to the strengths of its reserves and the large amount of LNG production already coming out of its North West Shelf, Wheatstone, and Pluto LNG projects.
The other factor supporting the Woodside share price today is a rebound in oil futures that have been savaged over the past month in line with equity markets. As at 16.13pm AEST, WTI oil futures are at US$46.37 a barrel, with Brent Crude futures swapping for US$54.91 a barrel.
