Hess Corp.’s Australian subsidiary, Hess Exploration Australia Pty. Ltd., has signed a nonbinding letter of intent with the North West Shelf (NWS), according to a press release. Hess intends to develop its natural gas discoveries in its deepwater permits offshore northwestern Australia and, subject to execution of binding agreements, toll the production through existing NWS processing and liquefaction facilities in Karratha, Australia. Hess would then market LNG to customers in the Asia-Pacific region.

NWS is a joint venture between BHP Billiton Petroleum (North West Shelf) Pty. Ltd., BP Developments Australia Pty.Ltd., Chevron Australia Pty. Ltd., Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) Pty. Ltd., Shell Australia Pty. Ltd. and Woodside Energy Ltd. (operator). Hess and NWS plan to conduct joint engineering studies and further progress commercial discussions.

Hess holds 100% interests in both the WA-390-P and WA-474-P permits that contain the Equus fields. These permits cover more than 1 million acres and are located about 185 km (115 miles) off the northwest coast of Australia in water depths of about 1,097 m (3,600 ft). An Equus sanction decision is not expected before 2017.