Woodside Tips 4% Rise in 2018 Production
Australian oil and gas major Woodside Energy said January 18 expects its production to increase by 4% in 2018.
Its equity production was 84.4mn barrels of oil equivalent in 2017, comprising: 61.7mn boe LNG, 14.8mn boe liquids, 6mn boe of North West Shelf (NWS) pipeline gas and 1.9mn of LPG/other piped gas.
It said it expects aggregate net 2017 production to increase by about 4% to between 85mn and 90mn boe this year, driven by stronger LNG production now that Chevron-operated Wheatstone, in which it has equity, is online. LNG production is forecast to be 69-71mn boe in 2018, with liquids 10-12mn boe, NWS pipeline gas 4-5mn boe, and LPG/other piped gas 2mn boe, it said.
The Western Australia-focused derives production from its share of the North West Shelf, Pluto LNG, Wheatstone LNG, and Australian oil projects.
“Pluto LNG delivered excellent production on the back of outstanding facility reliability and higher operating rates,” Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said.
“Wheatstone LNG Train 1 commenced production in October, with the first cargo delivered to Japanese buyers in November. This was a significant achievement for the project and our attention is now focused on supporting the operator with the completion of Train 2 and the domestic gas facility, as well as optimising performance,” he added. Wheatstone Train 2 construction is on plan and over 90% complete with first LNG expected in Q2 2018, Woodside said.
The company’s sales revenue stood at $939.3mn in October-December 2017, up from $914.1mn in July-September that year, with Coleman saying the increase reflected strong realised prices and that further gains are expected in the current quarter. “We anticipate that the stronger oil prices experienced in the further quarter will flow through to higher realised LNG prices in the first quarter of 2018,” he said.
“Looking ahead to 2018, we can expect a significant increase in annual LNG production and we anticipate we will be cash flow neutral at $35 a barrel,” he said.