PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Oil and gas major Woodside delivered record quarterly production figures this week, with the company producing 51.6-million barrels of oil equivalent during the three months to December, up 0.7% on the third quarter.

Sales volumes during the fourth quarter reached 52.2-million barrels of oil equivalent, down 8.5% on the third quarter, primarily owing to third-party trades.

“The result lifted output for calendar 2022 to 157.7-million barrels of oil equivalent, surpassing guidance and marking the highest annual production in Woodside’s history,” Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said.

“Consistent strong operational performance and favourable operating conditions across the combined portfolio were key drivers in achieving record quarterly and full-year production.

“Reliability at our Australian operated assets was exceptional with Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the North West Shelf (NWS) project both achieving 98.3% reliability for the quarter. During the quarter, Woodside celebrated a milestone at Pluto LNG, passing 50-million tonnes of LNG production since the facility started up in 2012. Internationally, asset performance was boosted by completion of planned turnaround work.”

O’Neill noted that Woodside contributed 29.4 PJ to the east coast Australian gas market in the quarter.

“Every molecule produced by Woodside’s east coast gas business went into the domestic market to support Australian households, businesses and manufacturers.

“Revenue for the period was A$5.16-billion, down 12% from the third quarter on the back of lower international crude oil and LNG prices and reduced trading activity. Woodside’s average realised price was $98/bl of oil equivalent, down from $102/bl of oil equivalent in the preceding period.

“Ongoing production of Pluto gas through the Pluto-Karratha gas plant Interconnector continues to deliver additional LNG volumes to a market with strong demand,” she added.

Meanwhile, O’Neill told shareholders that during the quarter under review, Woodside also made strong progress across its portfolio of growth projects, both in Australia and globally.

“The teams working on Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 have done an outstanding job over the latter part of the year. The combined projects are now one quarter of the way to completion and are on track for targeted first LNG cargo in 2026, bringing essential volumes into a market demanding more LNG.

“Most of the major equipment for the Scarborough floating production unit has been ordered and module construction of Pluto Train 2 has commenced.

“At Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 in Senegal, subsea installation and development drilling has progressed well, with seven of the planned 23 wells now completed. The floating production storage and offloading facility is currently undergoing topside integration, pre-commissioning and commissioning activities in Singapore. Overall, the project is 77% complete and is on target to start producing oil in late 2023.

“Progress was also made at the proposed Trion project in Mexico, where we are aiming to be ready for a final investment decision (FID) in 2023. During the quarter competitive tenders were issued for the drilling rig, subsea equipment, and installation scopes for subsea, the floating production unit, and the floating storage and offloading vessel.

“In our new energy portfolio, front-end engineering design has now been completed at H2OK and contracts were awarded for key equipment, putting us on target to be ready for an FID in 2023.

“In Australia, Woodside entered into an indigenous land use and modern benefits sharing agreement for the Woodside Solar project and is targeting FID readiness in 2023.

“Elsewhere in new energy, Woodside was selected as the preferred partner to progress to the next stage of the proposed Southern Green Hydrogen project in New Zealand, which would produce ammonia from electrolysis using renewable power.”

Woodside’s production guidance for full-year 2023 remains 180-million to 190-million barrels of oil equivalent.