Hess Corp. (HES) expects an investment decision in mid-2013 on its Equus natural gas development off Western Australia, the U.S. oil company said in documents filed with the Australian government.

Equus, scheduled to start in late 2017, will send the gas by pipeline to either Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL)’s Pluto venture, Chevron Corp. (CVX)’s Wheatstone project or the North West Shelf development, New York-based Hess said in the filings yesterday with the Australian Environment Department.

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