Woodside records first half profit of US$419 million

The directors have declared an interim dividend of 36 US cents per share (cps) and reactivated the dividend reinvestment plan.

Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said the company has laid the foundations for a strong 2H19 and is on track to achieve targeted annual production of approximately 100 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2020.

“During the half we completed the first major turnaround at Pluto LNG since the start of operations in 2012. The planned turnaround will support continued safe, reliable and efficient production at Pluto LNG for many years into the future.

“The strong cash flow generated by Pluto LNG will contribute significantly to the delivery of Woodside’s vision for the Burrup Hub, which will unlock the future value of our world-class processing facilities in Karratha, and the rest of our growth strategy across three-time horizons.

“Our other base businesses performed strongly in the first half, with the North West Shelf and Wheatstone recording solid production. At the NWS Project, several improvements have been implemented to increase the efficiency and production capacity of LNG Trains 4 and 5.

“Subsequent to the end of the period, we recommenced production from the Vincent wells and we expect first oil from the Greater Enfield reservoirs in August 2019. The delivery of the Greater Enfield Project, on schedule and under budgeted cost, is a further demonstration of our capacity to execute our growth plans.

“First half NPAT was lower compared to the corresponding period due to the impact of Tropical Cyclone Veronica, the planned maintenance at Pluto LNG, and the Ngujima-Yin floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility being offline for refurbishment in Singapore ahead of its restart at Greater Enfield.

“Significant progress has been achieved at our major developments in Western Australia and Senegal over the course of the first half.

“The Scarborough Joint Venture has awarded two contracts related to the construction of the export gas pipeline. Commercial negotiation of a tolling agreement for the processing of Scarborough gas at Pluto Train 2 has progressed, as has engineering design for the upstream and downstream developments, in support of our targeted final investment decision in 2020.

“A key focus for the half has been on progressing the conversion of the preliminary tolling agreement between the North West Shelf (NWS) Project and the Browse Joint Venture to a binding gas processing agreement. The Browse Joint Venture approved the Browse to NWS Project basis of design in May and the venturers are aligned on being ready to commence the front-end engineering design phase by the end of 2019.

“In Senegal, major contracts have been awarded for the subsea and drilling work scopes, and the FPSO facility which will have an oil processing capacity of up to 100 000 barrels per day. The joint venture is targeting FID on the SNE Field Development Phase 1 in the second half and is working on total project funding solutions, including pursuing project financing,” he said.

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/15082019/woodside-records-first-half-profit-of-us419-million/