PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Energy major Woodside has reported a 60% increase in production during the June quarter, and a 51% increase in sales volumes following the integration of the BHP petroleum assets into the company.

Woodside completed its merger with BHP’s petroleum business on June 1, resulting in the company reporting production of 33.8-million barrels of oil equivalent, and sales of 35.8-million barrels of oil equivalent for the quarter ended June.

This was compared with the 21.1-million barrels of oil equivalent produced in the first quarter of 2022, and the 23.8-million barrels of oil equivalent sold in the same period.

Revenue for the three months to June reached $3.43-billion, up from the $2.39-billion in the first quarter.

“Production for the period was 33.8-million barrels of oil equivalent, while revenue climbed to $3.438-billion on the back of a 51% increase in sales volume to 35.8-million barrels of oil equivalent,”  Woodside Energy CEO Meg O’Neill said

“The completion on June 1 of our merger with BHP’s petroleum business was the highlight of the period, transforming Woodside into a top 10 global independent energy producer by hydrocarbon production, and making us the largest energy company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Woodside received a net cash payment from BHP Group of approximately $1.1-billion, which included the cash remaining in the bank accounts of BHP Petroleum immediately prior to completion.

“The merger was overwhelmingly endorsed by Woodside’s shareholders at our annual general meeting in May, and they are now seeing first evidence of the increased financial and operational strength the transaction will deliver,” said O’Neill.

“The subsequent listings of Woodside shares on the New York and London stock exchanges were historic moments for the company, reflecting our more diverse shareholder base.”

Meanwhile, O’Neill noted that significant progress was made on Woodside’s key projects during the quarter. All major equipment items for Scarborough have been procured and construction has begun at the Pluto Train 2 site.

“First steel for Scarborough’s floating production unit topsides was cut, pipeline manufacturing is 25% progressed and the subsea trees for initial start-up of the project are all complete.

“Installation of the mooring system for the floating production, storage and offloading facility at the Sangomar field has been completed and the second drillship, the Ocean BlackHawk, commenced drilling in July.

“Following extensive discussions with potential new partners, we have decided to discontinue the sell-down of equity in Sangomar,” O’Neill said. However, the sell-down process for equity in the Scarborough project was continuing.

“In Australia, accelerated Pluto gas transported through the Pluto-Karratha gas plant Interconnector has resulted in additional liquified natural gas production and sales of uncontracted cargoes in a high-priced market.

“Lambert Deep, a component of the Greater Western Flank Phase 3 project, achieved ready for start-up in July,” she said.

Looking ahead at the full year, Woodside has set a production target of between 145-million and 153-million barrels of oil equivalent, with the energy major expected to spend between $4.3-billion and $4.8-billion in capital, of which the majority will go towards the development of Scarborough and Pluto Train 2.