Woodside’s sales revenue down despite record LNG production

Australian LNG player Woodside reported a 9 percent drop in sales revenue in the third quarter 2016 when compared to the same period in 2015, due to continued effects of lower oil prices.

In its quarterly report, Woodside said that LNG production at the North West Shelf’s Karratha Gas Plant produced 752.125 tons, 4 percent up on the previous record in the third quarter of 2014. The project sold 738,965 tons of LNG during the quarter, delivering 74 cargoes.

Woodside said that the production was higher “primarily due to the recommencement of full production following the major turnaround in the previous quarter, system enhancements made during the turnaround and higher reliability.”

For the course of the year so far, the project produced 1,925,492 tons of LNG delivering 186 cargoes in total.

Production at the Pluto LNG facility also reached a new record reaching 1,162,124 tons, an increase of 1 percent compared to the same quarter in 2015. Pluto LNG delivered 18 cargoes during the quarter, with 47 cargoes delivered from the facility so far this year, the report shows.

In total Woodside’s production for the quarter reached 25.2 mmboe, almost the same to the corresponding quarter in 2015 (-0.4 percent), and 13.5 percent higher from the previous quarter.

Sales went up to 25.4mmboe, 5.4 percent up on the third quarter in 2015 and 20.4 percent up on the previous quarter this year, however, sales revenue of US$988 million were 9 percent down on the third quarter in 2015.

Production guidance for 2016 has been narrowed to 92-95 mmboe from the previous guidance of 90-95 mmboe.

Wheatstone LNG storage tank ready for cooldown

Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said, “the Julimar project completed all construction and commissioning work on schedule and under budget in preparation for Wheatstone start-up in mid-2017.”

He added that the project would contribute to over 13 mmboe of annual production once both trains are fully operational.

The first storage tank at Wheatstone LNG project is ready for cooldown as all Train 2 modules arrived on site.

It is expected that the project will produce the first LNG from Train 1 in mid-2017, with Train 2 starting production six to eight months later.

Woodside is also progressing with scheduling activities to enhance the viability of the commercial development of the Browse resources, targeting completion of concept selection in the second half of 2017.

Kitimat LNG joint venture is reviewing the NextGen technology as a potential development concept.

LNG World News Staff