Aggressive steps are on by Woodside Petroleum Ltd. to become the global leader in LNG by 2020. The first being the raising of capital to the tune of $ 2.5 Bn. This, it plans to accomplish through new shares via a one-for-12 fully underwritten institutional entitlement offer at A$42.10 each, a 10.8% discount to their last closing price. The biggest shareholder, Shell is expected to take up the entire entitlement by investing about $ 862 Mn.

The optimism and confidence of Woodside indicates its being able to overcome the many hindrances like gas shortage and political risks. However, a flipside may also be that the company is safeguarding itself from pressures of recession and labour problems especially in the Asian regions.

The confidence is based on the upcoming LNG development proposals, which are gaining popularity due to LNG being a cleaner-burning fuel, making Australia the largest exporter of this fuel. Some of the projects are: Sunrise, offshore from Darwin near Timor Leste's territorial waters, and Browse, off WA's Kimberley coast. There is also an on-going expansion of its $12 billion Pluto project, near Karratha in Western Australia.

The production estimates had been set at about 81 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) however; the company has confirmed a drop of 70 million-75 million barrels of oil equivalent following the sale of a non-core Australian asset to raise funds for its LNG plans.