Woodside First Half Profit Down 39%

Australian energy firm Woodside on Wednesday announced a half-year profit of $679 million, down 39 percent on year.

Company’s production was down 9.7 percent at 42.0 MMboe and operating revenue was $2.556 billion for the half year that ended June 30, down 28 percent compared with same period last year.

Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said the financial results reflected the impact of the fall in commodity prices over the past year. “Our half-year profit is down 39 percent on the same period last year as a direct result of the fall in oil price over the period,” Coleman said. “However, we have achieved some significant milestones this year which are part of our strategy to transform the business. With the purchase of interests in Wheatstone, Balnaves and Kitimat we have substantially increased our reserves and production capacity while de-risking our future growth. The recent decision to move to FEED on Browse is a significant step towards developing this world class resource.”

In comparison to 2014, short-term LNG prices have softened in response to falling oil prices, Woodside said, adding that the arbitrage opportunity to re-direct significant quantities of Atlantic LNG cargoes to the Far East has been largely eliminated with the drop in Asia LNG spot prices relative to European hub prices.

In addition, the LNG trading market has tended to be more volatile, as the industry responds to new supply additions and the emergence of new buyers and import facilities, Woodside stated.