Woodside Agrees to Buy LNG from Cheniere Energy

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. 's purchase of liquefied natural gas from a proposed U.S. export facility represents a push deeper into energy trading, as it retools its strategy in the wake of a series of abandoned investments in oil and gas production.

Woodside said Tuesday it will buy 850,000 metric tons of LNG a year from Cheniere Energy Inc.'s proposed Corpus Christi terminal in Texas. Sales of LNG—gas cooled to a liquid form so it can be transported by ship—are due to begin in 2019 and continue for at least 20 years.

Cheniere wants to start building Corpus Christi by next year, pending regulatory approval. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last month released a draft environmental impact statement for the project, which aims to produce 13.5 million tons of LNG annually at its peak.

(online.wsj.com Edited by Topco)