Woodside Energy Group Ltd. on Friday reported $4.33 billion in revenue from January to March, an 81 percent increase from the corresponding quarter in 2022 that it attributed to its merger with BHP Group Ltd.’s oil business. last year.
However, revenue fell 16 percent from the previous quarter as sales and prices fell.
Woodside, a major player in Australia’s energy industry, produced 46.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) in the first quarter of 2023, down nine percent from the October-December 2022 quarter, but 122 percent more than the previous year. LNG production stood at 24.283 Mbp, while oil and condensate totaled 12.328 Mbp with an initial contribution of 939,000 boe from the Mad Dog oil field in the US Gulf of Mexico.
The weaker production was due to an expected turnaround of the Ngujima-Yin floating storage and offloading production facility off the coast of Western Australia, maintenance activities and lower domestic demand from the Australian east coast for Bass Strait gas, the company said in a filing with Australian Securities. exchange
But he said: “Production was more than double the corresponding quarter last year, driven by the expansion of the portfolio of operations following the merger.”
Woodside and Melbourne-based BHP completed the merger of their oil and gas portfolio in June 2022. The former acquired BHP Petroleum International Pty. Ltd., which had total production of 53 Mboe in the half-year to December 2021. BHP Petroleum had an estimated 309.9 million barrels of proven oil and condensate reserves and 3.5522 trillion feet cubic meters of proven gas reserves by the end of 2021, according to a proposed merger with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, where Woodside is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Woodside sold 50.4 million boe in the first three months of 2023, down 4% from the previous quarter but up 112% from the first quarter last year.
Its liquefied natural gas (LNG) was sold at $16.7 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in realized price, down from $20.3 per MMBtu quarterly. Woodside oil and condensate sold at $76 a barrel, down from $82 in the last quarter of 2022.
For the whole of 2023, Woodside has maintained its expected production of 180-190 Mboe.
“We are making good progress on all major growth projects in Australia and globally,” chief executive Meg O’Neill said in the earnings report.
“The Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 projects [in Western Australia] they are now 30% complete, with construction of key offshore and onshore infrastructure increasing. The first concrete has now been poured at the Pluto Train 2 site.”
“The Sangomar development drilling program [in Senegal] it is approaching the halfway point, with ten of the 23 wells completed,” he added. “The installation and testing of the rigid flowlines, totaling 101 km in length, was successfully and safely completed. This is a key milestone on the way to the first targeted oil later this year.
“On the Trion project at the GoM [Gulf of Mexico]we have received tenders for key equipment and activities such as the floating production unit, long lead rotary equipment, subsea equipment, drilling equipment and installation scopes as we address FID. [final investment decision] preparation this year”.
Meanwhile, regulatory approval is pending for Woodside’s 12 winning bids in the Gulf of Mexico auction for US drilling rights last month. The company has placed $6,255,474 in total, according to the results of the 259 lease sale released by the US Ocean Energy Management on March 29.
Woodside also said it has received Egyptian regulatory approval for a purchase of a 27 percent interest in the Herodotus Basin.
The company spent $1.316 billion in capital expenditures during the first quarter of 2023.
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