MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 20, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said that it had placed its 'A-' long-term corporate credit and associated debt ratings on Woodside Petroleum Ltd. on CreditWatch with negative implications. The CreditWatch placement follows Woodside's announcement earlier today that the final cost of the company's Pluto foundation project is expected to be 6%–10% higher than the A$11.2 billion approved by the company in July 2007 (depending on the drawdown of project contingencies). "Although the Pluto project remains on schedule, the additional capital costs to complete the project could put further pressure on Woodside's credit metrics," Standard&Poor's credit analyst May Zhong said. "Our concerns regarding the degree to which Woodside's credit metrics had already
