WesternOne to focus on North American LNG opportunities

WesternOne has announced that it is winding-down its Australian operations in order to focus on shale oil and LNG opportunities in North America.

In order to ensure an efficient wind-down process, WesternOne has placed its Australian operations into voluntary administration. The company explained it was taking this action in order to focus both its management and its capital resources on significant opportunities in North America. These include ongoing capital investments in Northern Alberta’s oil and gas sector, new major investments in the shale oil and gas sector in the US, and the LNG and related infrastructure projects proposed for British Columbia.

Weak Australian market

Commenting on the decision, WesternOne CEO, Robert King, said: "The decision to wind-down these operations follows a thorough review of the current challenging business environment in Australia and the impact it was having on the financial results of our Australian operations.

"The downturn in Australia's resource market started in 2012 when economic growth in China decelerated. We acquired the Australian business in early 2013 with the expectation that the downturn had largely bottomed out. Unfortunately, the weakness in this market has persisted and despite continual downsizing of that business we do not see the prospects for a turnaround in the performance of our Australia operations in the near-term. The Australian operations do not constitute a substantial portion of WesternOne's overall business."

Canadian services

Britco, WesternOne's modular building platform, continues to execute major workforce accommodations projects in Western Canada, including a complex in northern Manitoba for Manitoba Hydro and a facility for Devon Energy in northern Alberta.

WIS, WesternOne's infrastructure services platform, continues to benefit from the robust construction and infrastructure sectors within Western Canada and is expanding its market through fleet investments and launching new branches in strategic locations.

Image courtesy of WesternOne.

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/30072014/westernone-to-focus-on-lng-in-british-columbia-1107/