WPLCD Woodside Petroleum Ltd

   By Robb M. Stewart 
 

MELBOURNE, Australia--Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) recorded a jump in first-quarter sales revenue following a lift in liquefied natural gas output with the start up last year of the Chevron Corp. (CVX) led Wheatstone venture in Western Australia.

Wheatstone managed to maintain production from its first production line during the quarter, producing at rates above the LNG operation's so-called nameplate capacity. The second production line is near to completion and is expected to start producing LNG in the current quarter, Woodside said.

The Australian energy company has forecast production in 2018 will rise to between 85 million and 90 million barrels of oil equivalent, after falling 11% last year to 84.4 million.

Woodside's output in the first three months of the year hit 22.2 million barrels, a rise of 1.4% quarter-over-quarter and up 3.7% on the same quarter last year thanks largely to increased LNG production.

With a rise in volumes and prices, revenue for the latest quarter was 18% higher on-quarter and 30% stronger year-over-year at US$1.17 billion.

The bulk of Woodside's profit is derived from liquefied natural gas operations in Western Australia, where it operates the North West Shelf project that has been operating since 1984 and the Pluto LNG plant that began producing in 2012.

In recent years, Woodside has focused on rebuilding its resource base, including a US$2.8 billion deal in 2015 with Apache Corp. that included a 13% stake in the Wheatstone project and a US$350 million deal last year to buy ConocoPhilips's (COP) interest in three promising oil discoveries off Senegal. In mid-February, Woodside moved to consolidate its hold on the undeveloped Scarborough natural-gas field off Western Australia with a deal to buy Exxon Mobil Corp.'s (XOM) 50% interest for up to US$744 million.

Once both production lines and a domestic gas facility at Wheatstone are fully operational, the project will contribute more than 13 million barrels of annual production.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 17, 2018 20:04 ET (00:04 GMT)

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