Woodside has responded diplomatically to criticism from West Australian Premier Colin Barnett, saying the company's relationship with the state government will remain strong.
The comment from chief executive Peter Coleman came after Mr Barnett repeatedly claimed Woodside had let the state down by pursuing offshore gas processing for its Browse project.
The premier said he was disappointed the company had not taken "a broader view" of the project in terms of domestic gas supply - ignoring the fact the Woodside-led North West Shelf joint venture has been powering most of the state for decades.
And he continues to insist the original plan for a gas plant at James Price Point in the Kimberley "was profitable", despite the company saying otherwise.
Mr Coleman said Woodside shared the premier's disappointment that the project would not be based onshore, but the numbers just didn't stack up.
"Unfortunately it's just not commercially attractive - even with us trying to pull some of the cost structure out of it," Mr Coleman said during a half-year results briefing on Wednesday.
"We're committed to Western Australia and will remain committed."
Mr Coleman said he expected the state government would renew the Browse retention leases that are in state waters before they expire at the end of 2014.
"We don't expect that to be an issue. We expect ... that we'll get state support," he said.
Two of the seven retention leases are in WA waters, but they are small.
Mr Barnett is even disputing how much of the gas is owned by the state, with the federal government putting it at five per cent while the premier believes it is more like 15 per cent.
And while the Commonwealth has varied the conditions on five retention leases, Woodside is still waiting for a state government decision on the other two leases.
Mr Barnett said the federal government had "rolled over" by letting Woodside do whatever it wanted.
