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Australian Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner Wednesday gave the strongest signal yet that the government is poised to give regulatory clearance to the huge Gorgon gas field offshore of Western Australia state.

"There's still one or two outstanding environmental assessments that have to be concluded...but I believe the project is likely to proceed, notwithstanding the remaining hurdles," Tanner told Sky News television.

Certainly, news overnight that PetroChina Co. (PTR), the listed unit of China National Petroleum Corp. (PTR), signed a liquefied natural gas import deal with one of the Gorgon partners, Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), valued at an estimated A$50 billion over the next 20 years, is "very good news for Australia," Tanner said.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett has a statutory deadline of Aug. 24 to rule on environmental issues and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said the Gorgon partners, Exxon Mobil, Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) will make a final investment decision shortly.

Turning to the Australian economy, Tanner said it would be "premature" to call the global recession over and gross domestic product growth in the period ahead will likely be "anemic".

Nevertheless, the government is "cautiously optimistic" on the economic outlook.

On competition in the banking sector, Tanner said the government currently has no plans to extend the A$8 billion mandate of the Australian Office of Financial Management to buy residential mortgage-backed securities.

-By Rachel Pannett, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-6208-0901; rachel.pannett@dowjones.com