Australian Woodside Sees Jump in 2016 Profit

Increased production and lower operating costs propelled Woodside’s 2016 full year net profit to $868mn, compared with just $26mn in the year before.

The company achieved annual production of 94.9mn barrels of oil equivalent (260,000 boe/d), 3% higher than 2015 and the second highest ever, while its unit production cost at $5/boe was 28% lower than the previous year, it said February 22.

Woodside said it expects to produce the first LNG cargo from its latest Australia LNG project Wheatstone in mid-2017, followed by the start-up of Train 2, six to eight months later. The project, in which Woodside has a 13% stake, will contribute more than 13mn boe to its annual output. Woodside said it is looking expand its Pluto LNG project in Western Australia.

“We are evaluating opportunities to maximise our investment in Pluto LNG by undertaking further capacity enhancements and mid-scale or large-scale expansion. In addition, we are planning for the construction of infrastructure that will enable us to supply LNG from Pluto to fuel the local mining and marine sectors. This is part of our broader objective of growing the LNG market,” chief executive Peter Coleman said.

It expects production from 2017 to 2020 to grow by approximately 15% through existing operations and sanctioned projects.

Oil Search back in profit

Meanwhile, strong performance at PNG LNG has lifted Oil Search’s net profit for 2016 to $89.8mn compared with a loss of $39.4mn in 2015, it said February 21. Last week both ExxonMobil and Santos, both partners at PNG LNG alongside Oil Search, said that an expansion of PNG LNG was likely following an upward revision in field resources. 

Shardul Sharma