PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Woodside Petroleum has reported increased production with the start of the second liquefied natural gas (LNG) train from the Chevron-operated Wheatstone operation.

Production during the three months to June reached 22-million barrels of oil equivalent, up from the 20.7-million barrels of oil equivalent produced in the previous corresponding period.

In the half-year, Woodside reported production of 44.2-million barrels of oil equivalent, up from the 42.1-million barrels of oil equivalent produced in the first half of 2017.

Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said that in addition to the start up of the second LNG train at Wheatstone, the company’s Pluto operation delivered another strong quarter performance.

“Since starting up in June, Wheatstone Train 2 has achieved high production rates, building on the continuing operational success at Train 1. Output from Wheatstone, along with oil and gas from the Greater Enfield and Greater Western Flank Phase 2 developments, will contribute to targeted production of around 100-million barrels of oil equivalent in 2020.”

Coleman noted that the Pluto LNG project delivered an outstanding result for the quarter, achieving 100% reliability and a yearly production rate of 5.2-million tonnes a year.

“For the proposed Scarborough development, Woodside has accelerated target ready for start-up to 2023 for the upstream component, and 2024 for the downstream, to maximise the market opportunity. We have also increased the design capacity of the proposed Pluto Train 2, to four- to five-million tonnes a year.”

During the quarter under review, Woodside delivered a sales revenue of over $1-billion, up from the $867.6-million reported in the previous corresponding period, as sales volumes increased from 20.3-million barrels of oil equivalent to over 21-million barrels of oil equivalent.