Arrow Energy says all options are on the table as it sheds jobs and cuts costs at its coal seam gas (CSG) project in central Queensland.
Hundreds of jobs are believed to be at risk at Arrow, which employs 1,200 people.
The company has declined to give firm details on the number of jobs to be cut or comment on speculation the $US20 billion ($A22.78 billion) project is under threat after key shareholder Royal Dutch Shell downgraded its profit forecasts.
“We have not ruled out any development option,” Arrow Energy said in a statement on Tuesday.
The comment comes a day after Arrow confirmed it has conducted a review of staffing levels and reduces costs as it focuses on finding additional value.
The company says it will continue to assess development options, including joint venture opportunities, as it looks to develop its gas reserves.
Last year, the Queensland government approved Arrow’s proposed 18 million tonne liquefied natural gas plant at Gladstone.
Arrow, which is focused on the exploration, extraction and use of coal seam gas, is 100 per cent owned by Shell and PetroChina which formed a 50/50 joint venture partnership to acquire the company for $3.5 billion in 2010.
Energy giant Shell recently downgraded its profit outlook, saying its fourth quarter 2013 profit figures, which will be released on January 30, are expected to be significantly lower than recent levels due to current oil and gas prices and the weaker downstream oil products industry.
Shell later announced the sale of stakes in its Australian natural gas assets for $US1.135 billion ($A1.30 billion) to a Kuwaiti state company.
The company will sell its eight per cent equity interest in the Wheatstone-Iago gas field and 6.4 per cent interest in the Wheatstone liquefied natural gas project to the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company.
Despite the sales Shell’s new chief executive officer Ben van Beurden says the company will remain “a major player in Australia’s energy industry”.
Analysts say Shell’s profit downgrade is unlikely to affect the company’s future investment in joint venture projects such as Gorgon, Browse and its Prelude floating LNG (FLNG) project in Western Australia.