Woodside full-year profit up 28%

The directors have declared a final dividend of US 91 cents per share (cps), bringing the full-year dividend to US 144 cps.

Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said that in 2018 the company delivered strong financial results, solid production and significant progress on growth plans.

“Our net profit after tax increased 28% year-on-year, driven by robust operational performance throughout 2018 and improved market conditions.

“The company generated free cash flow of $1.52 billion, up 83% on 2017. This has supported our strong financial liquidity throughout the year and positions us well to deliver our growth projects.

“During the year we achieved a number of significant milestones in our plans to develop the Scarborough and Browse fields off Western Australia through our world-class facilities on the Burrup Peninsula.

“Our plans for the Burrup Hub will more than double Woodside’s equity LNG production by 2027, providing long-term gas supplies for both domestic and export markets, and delivering significant benefits to shareholders and the community.

“After increasing our equity in Scarborough to 75% in early 2018, we assumed operatorship and have awarded engineering contracts for the upstream development. We have selected an expansion concept for Pluto LNG and begun engineering work on the second production train.

“At the same time, we have progressed our proposal to process the Browse resources through the North West Shelf Project’s Karratha Gas Plant, achieving a landmark preliminary tolling agreement between the two joint ventures.

“In Senegal, we transitioned to operator of SNE, the country’s first offshore oil development. The SNE joint venture has now secured environmental approval and commenced FEED activities for the first phase of the development, targeted for first oil in 2022.

“This year we’ve again demonstrated expertise in project delivery, with Greater Western Flank Phase 2 coming in $630 million under budget and six months ahead of schedule. Additional near-term growth was realised as Wheatstone train 2 started up, achieving better-than-expected production and positioning us to achieve our targeted output of approximately 100 million boe in 2020.

“As we deliver our growth plans, we remain committed to excellence in our base business, which has achieved high reliability and globally competitive cost of production.

“The past year has been a busy one for Woodside, but we are looking forward to achieving even more in 2019 when we plan to start production at Greater Enfield and take a final investment decision on SNE. At the same time, we will be preparing for final investment decisions in 2020 on Scarborough, Pluto LNG Train 2 and Browse,” he said.

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/14022019/woodside-full-year-profit-up-28-percent/