Woodside has released its half-year financial results which show a net profit after tax (NPAT) of US$1,740 million. Underlying NPAT was US$1,896 million, up 4% on the corresponding period in 2022, reflecting a full period of results with Woodside’s expanded operations portfolio. Operating revenue rose 27% period-on-period to US$7,400 million.
Production for the first half was a record at 91.3 million barrels of oil equivalent. The Pluto LNG facility delivered a 99.9% reliability rate in the five months prior to the planned maintenance turnaround, which was completed on schedule.
First production was achieved at the Argos platform at Mad Dog Phase 2 in the Gulf of Mexico. During the half a successful appraisal well was drilled in the southwest portion of the Mad Dog field in the Gulf of Mexico and a multi well tie back to Argos is being evaluated.
In June, Woodside took an FID on the Trion oil development offshore Mexico. Following FID, Woodside executed a contract with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries for the construction of the Trion floating production unit.
Woodside also took FID during the period at Julimar-Brunello Phase 3, a new source of gas for the non-operated Wheatstone facility in Western Australia.
Work on the Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 project progressed well during the first half. Following acceptance of the Scarborough Trunkline Installation (State Waters) Environmental Plan in April, shore crossing preparations at Pluto commenced and are now nearing completion.
Two significant milestones were achieved for Scarborough subsequent to the end of the half, with NOPSEMA approving the Environmental Plan for the marine seismic survey and the announcement of the sale of a 10% interest in the offshore joint venture to LNG Japan. The new strategic relationship with LNG Japan also includes the potential for LNG offtake and collaboration on opportunities in new energy.
Woodside is actively marketing hydrogen offtake from its proposed H2OK liquid hydrogen project in Oklahoma, in support of our target of being ready to take an FID before year-end.
In Australia, the company is aiming to be ready to take FID in the second half of 2023 on the Woodside Solar project, which is expected to supply around 50MW of energy to Pluto LNG.
Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said the tragic death of a contractor employee at the North Rankin Complex in early June overshadowed the strong financial and underlying operational performance in the first half of the year.
“The loss of our colleague was a tragedy for his family and friends and has had an emotional impact on everyone at Woodside. Investigations into the incident by Western Australian Police and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) are ongoing, as are Woodside’s internal investigations.
“We have implemented changes to our operational practices based on the preliminary findings of those investigations and shared our learnings with the broader industry via the Safer Together collaboration hub. Woodside’s safety performance over the past two years has been below the standard we set for ourselves. We know we must do better and are resolved to strive for a return to leading safety performance.”