PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) this week gave its blessing to ASX-listed Woodside’s $2.75-billion buy of Apache Corporation’s share in the Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.

Under the sales agreement, Woodside would acquire Apache’s 13% interest in the Wheatstone LNG project, and a 65% interest in the Julimar-Brunello upstream gas development.

The ACCC launched an investigation into the transaction in January, calling for submissions to investigate the impact the acquisition would have on competition in the LNG sector.

“Following the proposed acquisition, Woodside would continue to face strong competition from other suppliers in the market, including Apache, Chevron and Santos,” ACCC chairperson Rod Sims said on Thursday.

He added that Apache would continue to supply gas to the market through its interest in the Macedon, Veranus Island and Devil Creek projects, and as a result, would remain a larger supplier of domestic gas in Western Australia than Woodside.

“Apache’s minority interest in domestic gas produced by the Wheatstone project will represent only a small fraction of the total gas to be supplied to Western Australia, when it comes on line in around 2018. The acquisition will not change the structure of the market in a material way, with Woodside’s share of the total market changing by less than 5%,” Sims said.

He noted that while Woodside’s proposed transaction was unlikely to raise significant competition concerns, the ACCC had taken note of concerns expressed about the effects of any further industry consolidation, and Sims said that the ACCC would continue to monitor the supply of domestic gas in Western Australia and any future acquisitions in this area would be scrutinised carefully.

Wheatstone is located 12 km west of Onslow and would consist of two LNG trains with a combined capacity of 8.9-million tonnes a year, along with a domestic gas plant.