Australia's Woodside Energy reported a 28% rise in second-quarter revenue on Wednesday and narrowed its annual production forecast, citing strong operational performance and high reliability across its assets.
The company now expects 2026 production to range between 174 million and 185 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe), compared with its previous forecast of 172 MMboe to 186 MMboe.
Shares of Woodside rose 1.1%, in line with the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark .AXJO.
"Sustained production performance and asset reliability have provided greater certainty around expected full-year outcomes, supporting a narrower production guidance range for 2026," Woodside CEO Liz Westcott said in a statement.
Quarterly production fell 18% to 41.3 MMboe, reflecting planned maintenance at the Pluto LNG plant and recovery from cyclone-related disruptions, though the company highlighted reliability of 99.3% at Sangomar, 99.2% at Shenzi, and more than 97% at both the North West Shelf and Pluto LNG operations.
Revenue rose to $4.19 billion for the three-month period ended June 30, from $3.28 billion a year earlier.
Average realised prices jumped to $85 per barrel of oil equivalent, up from $63/boe in the previous quarter and $59/boe a year earlier, aided by stronger LNG and crude oil markets, as the U.S.-Iran war has disrupted energy supplies from the Gulf.
"It's normal market behavior to some level where customers' supply and demand continue to work together to meet arrangements, but it's certainly got volatility in it," Westcott told Reuters in an interview.
"The focus for Woodside in 2026 is very much around delivering on the commitments we've made."
The company said pricing lags from the second quarter are expected to flow through to LNG sales in the third quarter.
Not only has the closure of the Strait of Hormuz choked oil and LNG supplies, but it has also forced contractor Bechtel to find new routes to supply steel from the United Arab Emirates to Woodside's Louisana LNG project in the U.S., Woodside said.
Westcott said the 16.5-million-metric-ton project remained on target for a 2029 start-up.
The company maintained its capital expenditure forecast of $4 billion to $4.5 billion for 2026 and said both its Scarborough LNG project and the Trion oil development in Mexico remained on budget, with Trion now 64% complete and targeting first oil in 2028.
The Scarborough gas project, off Western Australia, is expected to produce its first LNG cargo in the fourth quarter.
(Reuters - Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee and Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru and Helen Clark in Perth; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonali Paul)
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