Woodside Petroleum has stopped work on a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, valued at an estimated $ 40 billion.

The energy company which ranks as the second largest Australian oil company, said that the pull-out on the LNG project stemmed from commercial reasons.

The project which has now been put on hold would have supplied gas to Asian markets.

While multiple LNG projects have been proposed in Australia, obstacles including the high Austrian dollar and large wages, alongside environment concerns have made such projects prohibitively expensive in comparison to projects situated in Canada and the U.S.

Despite the setback for Woodside Petroleum, Australia is predicted to become the world’s largest supplier of LNG by the end of the decade.

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