Woodside Records 23 Pct Increase in Production, Australia

Woodside achieved second quarter production volumes of 20.0 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe). Sales revenue was US$1,345 million.

Woodside recorded a 23% increase in production compared to the corresponding half in 2012, largely due to the full half-year of production at the Pluto LNG Plant.

During the quarter Woodside successfully completed the first planned shutdown of the Pluto LNG Plant, in addition to a major planned shutdown at the North West Shelf Karratha Gas Plant. A subsequent unplanned shutdown at Pluto led to a revision in the 2013 production target range. Production has since resumed at the plant.

Key Points:

• Production volumes were in line with the corresponding period. Sales revenue decreased 6% predominantly due to lower oil volumes as a result of the Vincent FPSO being off station for planned shipyard maintenance. This resulted in lower average realised prices. The average Brent price for the quarter was $103.35/bbl, down from $108.76/bbl in the corresponding period.
• Production was 8.6% lower than the previous quarter, largely due to planned North West Shelf and Pluto maintenance coupled with an unplanned Pluto LNG outage.

Highlights

• Browse: Woodside announced in April 2013 that the proposed Browse LNG Development near James Price Point did not meet the company’s commercial requirements for a positive final investment decision. Woodside subsequently entered into an agreement with Shell that sets out the key principles that would apply if the Browse resources are developed using Shell’s Floating LNG (FLNG) technology.
• Dividends: During the quarter Woodside paid a special dividend of US$0.63 per share. The Board also advised that the company will target a dividend payout ratio of 80% of underlying net profit after tax which is expected to be maintained for several years (refer ASX release dated 23 April 2013).
• Ireland: During the quarter two separate offers to farm-in to offshore blocks located in the prospective Porcupine Basin off Ireland were accepted. Both offers are subject to the execution of fully-termed agreements, completion of due diligence and other necessary approvals.