PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Oil and gas producer Woodside has reported a 4% increase in revenues for the first quarter ended March, compared with the previous corresponding quarter, as sales volumes increased by 8%.
Woodside on Thursday reported that production during the first quarter was down by 2% on the previous corresponding period, to 23.7-million barrels of oil equivalent, while sales volumes reached 25.7-million barrels of oil equivalent, delivering revenue of A$1.12-billion.
Acting CEO Meg O’Neill said sales revenue in the first quarter rose 22% compared with the last three months of 2020 on the back of higher realised prices for all products.
“Production on our oil assets was impacted by heavy weather in the quarter but this was offset by an increase in our average realised price to a level comparable to the first quarter of 2020.
“Woodside achieved record spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices and its highest price premium for an oil cargo during the period. More importantly, the sustained increase in oil and gas prices reflects the rebound in demand as economic conditions improved across Asia. The swift rebalancing of markets after the disruptions of 2020 further underpins our positive outlook for LNG in the medium term.”
O’Neill said that a sales and purchase agreement (SPA) struck with RWE Supply & Trading in February this year was another demonstration of customer appetite for new LNG supplies around the middle of this decade, a timeframe which supports the development of our world-class Scarborough gas resource.
“Like the SPA for additional volumes signed with Uniper earlier in the quarter, the agreement with RWE includes the opportunity for us to explore the potential for carbon-neutral LNG trading. These agreements reflect our commitment to support the decarbonisation ambitions of customers and their willingness to support ours.
“That spirit of cooperation was further demonstrated during the period when we sold what we believe is the world’s first carbon offset condensate cargo to Trafigura,” O’Neill said.
Meanwhile, O’Neill noted that during the first quarter the Senegal team made strong progress on the Sangomar Field Development Phase 1, with commencement of production, storage and offloading (FPSO) conversion activities, first steel cut for the floating FPSO topsides and the ongoing construction of subsea equipment. Planning was also completed for the development drilling programme which will get underway in the middle of the year.
“At Scarborough, we ramped up engineering and procurement activity with our key contractors and progressed commercial agreements and regulatory approvals, in support of the targeted final investment decision in the second half of 2021.
“We’ve also finalised the design concept for modifications to Pluto Train 1 which will enable the processing of up to three-million tonnes a year of Scarborough gas. These modifications, combined with the five-million-tonne-a-year capacity of Pluto Train 2, would enable full utilisation of the eight-million-tonne-a-year offshore capacity.
“The gas processing agreements for Pluto and Waitsia gas, which will unlock further value from the North West Shelf project, are in place and we’ve committed to supplying significant additional domestic gas volumes to Western Australia from our equity offtake from 2025.”