Woodside Reports Lower H1 Profits on LNG Price Dip

Woodside Energy reported a decline in its first-half profits on the back of lower prices for liquefied natural gas.

The net result came in at $1.63 billion, which was 14% lower than the net result for the first half of 2023

The company also booked an operating cash flow of $2.39 billion and a free cash flow of $740 million for the period. The free cash flow figure represented a 136% increase in the year.

Chief executive Meg O’Neill noted the recent acquisitions that the Australian energy major made, not always to the cheer of the market, including Tellurian’s Driftwood LNG project in the U.S. and a clean ammonia project, also in the U.S..

“Our agreement last month to acquire Tellurian, including its US Gulf Coast Driftwood LNG development further strengthens our LNG portfolio, complementing our existing Pacific basin position with additional exposure in the Atlantic basin,” O’Neill said. “Woodside expects to leverage its global LNG expertise to unlock this development and enable long-term cashflow generation.”

Woodside announced the acquisition of troubled Tellurian in July, saying the $1.2-billion deal would help turn the Australian company into a global LNG powerhouse.

Tellurian has been planning to build Driftwood LNG, a production and export terminal on the Calcasieu River south of Lake Charles, Louisiana for years. Once complete, the terminal would be capable of exporting up to 27.6 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually.

Two weeks after that deal was announced, Woodside said it had struck a deal to acquire the OCI clean ammonia project in Beaumont, Texas, for $2.35 billion.

Lower-carbon ammonia production, derived from natural gas paired with carbon sequestration, is targeted for 2026 following the commencement of carbon capture and sequestration operations. The supply of carbon-abated hydrogen is dependent on ExxonMobil’s CCS facility becoming operational, Woodside said at the time.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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