ASX:WDS Woodside cops a revenue hit ahead of crucial AGM

Energy major Woodside has copped a hefty hit to its first-quarter revenue, with lower gas prices, maintenance issues and a drop in production putting the brakes on Australia’s largest oil and gas company.

Woodside’s revenue for the quarter ending March 31 clocked in at $US2.97 billion ($4.65 billion), 31 per cent weaker than the $US4.3 billion revenue of the same quarter last year, as the global gas markets continue to return to normal pricing after the spike caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

The average price paid by Woodside’s customers of $US63 (per barrel of oil equivalent) for the quarter was 25 per cent lower than the average price one year ago ($US85).

Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neil said on Friday that production guidance for the full year was unchanged.

More of Woodside’s gas will be sold in Western Australia after the state government extended permission for gas from the Pluto field to be processed at Woodside’s nearby North West Shelf plant. The deal, which lasts until December 2025, has doubled the amount of gas that cannot be exported from 15 to 30 per cent.

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The release of the agreement details comes as Australia’s most gas-dependent state faces an unfamiliar shortage this decade. A state parliamentary inquiry into WA’s gas policy, which heard large users call for lower exports, is expected to release its recommendations in the next few months.

Perth-based Woodside, valued at $54.3 billion, is forging ahead with major projects to boost longer-term production. The Sangomar oil project off the coast of Senegal is 96 per cent complete, with the first production scheduled for mid-year.

In WA, Woodside has started drilling the Scarborough gas field, and the first modules of processing equipment have arrived at the Pluto gas plant, which is being expanded to double its capacity.