Australia's Woodside on February 18 reported a net loss of US$4bn during the 12 months to December 31 thanks to lower oil prices. It had realised a net profit of US$343mn in the previous year.   

The reported net loss after tax was impacted by the non-cash impairments and onerous contract provision announced in July 2020, it said. Despite the net loss, the company delivered an underlying profit, which removes one-time charges, of US$447mn, down from over US$1bn in 2019.  

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Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said the Scarborough project remains on track for a targeted final investment decision in the second half of 2021, with around 50% of the expected equity gas production now under contract.  

Woodside is looking to sell a 50% stake in the new production unit at the Pluto LNG plant in Western Australia, which will be fed with gas from the Scarborough project. The company suspended the sale process last year when oil prices slumped but, according to a Reuters report, is now optimistic about luring buyers.  

“We’re now sitting in a much more attractive pricing environment,” the news agency quoted CFO Sherry Duhe as saying during an analyst call. “The buyer appetite for infrastructure assets just continues to grow. And so we do believe that there’ll be strong interest in that asset." 

Meanwhile, the company said it is closely monitoring events in Myanmar following a coup on February 1. "It is not currently possible to determine the impact, if any, of these events on the carrying value of the group’s Myanmar exploration and evaluation assets."  

Block A-6 is in the Rakhine basin, offshore Myanmar, and covers approximately 10,000 km² in water depths of up to 2,400 m. The A-6 development concept includes the drilling of up to 10 deep-water wells.