PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Oil and gas major Woodside has reported a slide in net profits after tax for the half-year ended June, compared with the previous corresponding period, as production declined.

Net profit after tax for the six months to June was reported at $419-million, down from the $541-million in the first half of 2018, as production decreased from 44.3-million barrels of oil equivalent to 39-million barrels of oil equivalent.

The first-half results were impacted by Tropical Cyclone Veronica, as well as the planned maintenance at the Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, and the Ngujima-Yin floating production, storage and offloading facility being offline for refurbishments in Singapore, ahead of its restart.

Woodside CEO Peter Coleman on Thursday said that the company has laid the foundation for a strong second half, and is on track to achieve its annual targeted production of 100-million barrels of oil equivalent in 2020.

“During the half we completed the first major turnaround at Pluto LNG since the start of operations in 2012. The planned turnaround will support continued safe, reliable and efficient production at Pluto LNG for many years into the future,” Coleman said.

He noted that the strong cash flow generated by Pluto LNG would contribute significantly to the delivery of Woodside’s vision for the Burrup Hub, which will unlock the future value of the company’s processing facilities in Karratha, and the rest of its growth strategy across three time horizons.

“Our other base businesses performed strongly in the first half, with the North West Shelf and Wheatstone recording solid production. At the North West Shelf project, several improvements have been implemented to increase the efficiency and production capacity of LNG trains 4 and 5.”

Subsequent to the end of the period, Woodside also restarted production at the Vincent wells, while first oil from the Greater Enfield reservoirs is expected in August.

“The delivery of the Greater Enfield project, on schedule and under budgeted cost, is a further demonstration of our capacity to execute our growth plans,” Coleman said.