Royal Dutch Shell PLC's (RDSA) top Australian executive said Wednesday that she is in no rush to commit to an expansion of Chevron Corp.'s (CVX) giant Gorgon gas export project that only months ago suffered a cost blowout in its first stage.

"I have no doubt that we will go to an expansion on Gorgon, but I don't think there is any hurry to rush into it," Shell Australia Chairwoman Ann Pickard said.

In December, Chevron revealed a 21% cost increase for the Gorgon liquefied natural gas development in Western Australia to 52 billion Australian dollars (US$53.8 billion).

Operator Chevron owns 47.3% of Gorgon, with Shell and U.S. energy group ExxonMobil Corp. both holding 25%.

"Gorgon is one tough, massive project," Ms Pickard told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.

"It is 55% complete, all the pieces seem to be working real well. Obviously at this point in time we want to make sure that it stays on track--we don't want any distractions."

Shell's European management recently suggested the company may slow the pace of some Australian LNG developments due to cost pressures.

Speaking to investors in London late last month, Shell chief executive Peter Voser said the group intended to take more time before approving planned developments such as the Arrow LNG project in Queensland state or the Gorgon expansion.

Spiraling labor costs have contributed to a series of budget overruns at Australian gas-export projects, including Gorgon.

Chevron had initially said it would make a final investment decision on building a fourth LNG processing unit at Gorgon in 2013.

However, following the cost increase in the first stage, which is designed to produce 15 million tons of LNG a year, Chevron is aiming only to begin early design work for the expansion this calendar year.

Separately, Ms. Pickard played down concerns that its floating LNG technology under development for Shell's Prelude gas field will shortchange Australia on jobs.

Operational and maintenance jobs will be available for 25-30 years at Prelude, she said. "80-85% of those jobs will go local." Shell plans to develop the world's first large-scale floating LNG plant at Prelude, which is due to start production in 2016.

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