Kerry Stokes-backed Beach Energy has revealed further cost blowouts and delays at its key growth project in Western Australia, deepening investor uncertainty about the oil and gas producer’s outlook after the abrupt exit of its chief executive.

Brett Woods, a senior executive at Australian gas giant Santos, is set to become Beach Energy’s third CEO in just over three years in February after the board last week announced the immediate departure of Morne Engelbrecht, who had been in the job 15 months.

On Monday, interim chief executive Bruce Clement told investors that Beach Energy’s 50 per cent share of the cost of the troubled Waitsia Stage 2 project in WA, which is being developed as a joint venture with Japan’s Mitsui, would be as high as $500 million – up from its earlier target of between $400 million and $450 million.

The Waitsia gas project in the Perth Basin had originally been due to this year start producing gas to convert into liquid and export overseas via Woodside’s North West Shelf plant. However, progress on the project’s construction has slowed following the collapse of engineering contractor Clough in December.

After reaching a deal earlier this year with Italian construction group Webuild to complete the project, Clement on Monday said the plan was now for gas to start flowing from the middle of the 2024 calendar year.

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“The Waitsia joint venture and Webuild, our construction contractor, have worked to overcome a number of hurdles following the disruptions from Clough’s voluntary administration,” he said. “We’ve worked hard over the last few months to redirect the ship.”

Beach Energy, whose biggest shareholder is Stokes’ Seven Group Holdings, produces oil and gas from five basins in Australia and New Zealand. All of its gas on the Australian east coast is delivered domestically.

The latest Waitsia delay meant Beach would face a one-off charge of $65 million, the company said.