LNG

Australian liquefied natural gas producer Woodside Petroleum recovered from a disastrous 2019 second quarter with a jump in third-quarter LNG revenue because the Pluto plant was back on line, though earnings were still lower than the third quarter of 2018.

Woodside Petroleum, operator of two LNG plants in Western Australia and a shareholder in a third facility, posted a 4.4 percent increase in first-quarter sales revenue of US$1.22 billion as higher prices made up for lower volumes caused by cyclone disruptions.

Woodside’s quarterly share of one-sixth of production at the North West Shelf plant it operates amounted to 617,164 tonnes and sold for US$318 million, a decline compared with the 667,332 tonnes marketed in the same three months of 2018.

The NWS cargoes were sold at an average price of US$9.4 per million British thermal units versus US$7.8 per MMBtu in the same quarter of 2018.

The Woodside-run Pluto LNG plant achieved output during the quarter of 1.08 million tonnes, slightly lower than 1.10MT logged in the year-ago quarter, and returned revenues of US$591M.

The Pluto cargoes were sold at an average price of US$10.0 per MMBtu compared with US$9.0 per MMBtu in the same quarter of 2018.

The Perth-based company additionally received 271,826 tonnes of LNG from its share of the Wheatstone plant near Onslow in Western Australia. The Wheatstone LNG revenue came to US$108M.

The Wheatstone cargoes were sold at an average price of US$11.9 per million British thermal units compared with US$8.9 per MMBtu in the same quarter of 2018.

Woodside Chief Executive Peter Coleman said there had been significant progress on plans to develop the Burrup Hub, including a supply accord signed with ENN Group of China that further demonstrated market support for the development of the Scarborough gas resource through an expansion of Pluto LNG.

“Woodside’s revenue increased compared with the corresponding period in 2018 due to higher realised prices. Despite disruption to operations from cyclone activity, our cyclone preparedness ensured safety was maintained and the impact on production was minimised,” explained Coleman.

“The ten-year Heads of Agreement signed in Shanghai with ENN Group is expected to start in 2025 and is evidence of global demand for long-term LNG supply from our proposed Burrup Hub,” said the CEO.

“We are pioneering the development of new domestic markets for LNG in Western Australia. Our new truck loading facility at Pluto LNG was completed in March and will supply LNG for use in remote power generation and transport in the Pilbara and beyond, reducing regional emissions through the replacement of diesel fuel,” he added.

“We also reached a significant milestone in March with the start of domestic gas production at Wheatstone,” stated Coleman.

Australian energy company Santos, operator of the Gladstone LNG plant and a stakeholder in two other regional liquefaction and export facilities, confirmed a significant natural gas discovery after a successful appraisal of the Corvus field in the Carnarvon Basin offshore Western Australia.

Woodside Petroleum Chief Executive Peter Coleman said that after the company’s strong performance in the past year it was looking forward to sanctioning more than US$30 billion of new liquefied natural gas projects.

Woodside Petroleum, the largest Australian operator of LNG plants, has responded to those who criticise and undervalue the contribution to society of energy companies and their exports by disclosing its substantial tax and royalty payments amounting to billions of dollars since the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

Woodside Petroleum, the operator of the North West Shelf LNG export plant in Western Australia, said that the Greater Western Flank Phase II venture off the northwest coast has commenced feed-gas production to help expand the lifespan for LNG and domestic volumes.

Australian LNG producer Woodside Petroleum made progress in the second quarter on a plan to process third-party feed-gas through the North West Shelf LNG plant in Western Australia as the ramp-up of the new Wheatstone facility continued along with other expansion and distribution plans.

Doris Engineering, the French energy contracts company with global operations, said it completed a study for Western Gas, an Australian operator based in Perth and developing the Equus natural gas field offshore Western Australia.