Woodside Halts Pluto Expansion Plans

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. has revealed there are longer discussions with other major oil and gas companies regarding an expansion of the Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia.

Pluto, a $15 billion project that was launched about a year ago, has contributed significantly to Woodside's production profile in recent months.

The operation was a key factor behind Woodside reporting Thursday in its quarterly update a 55 percent jump in production compared to a year earlier for the three months to end-March.

Woodside had previously said it was looking to work with partners on the expansion of Pluto; however, those intentions were also dismissed in the update.

"At present, there are no discussions with other resource owners with regard to Pluto expansion," the Perth-based company said.

"Woodside is continuing its efforts in the pursuit of expansion gas and has exploration activities scheduled in the region over the coming years."

Only a week ago Woodside shelved its development plans for the Browse LNG project, in which the company is majority owner and operator. Woodside said that decision was due to commercial factors.

Despite expansion at Pluto and the development of Browse being currently off the agenda for Woodside, the company recorded several improvements for first quarter 2013 against the corresponding period a year ago.

The increase in production saw Woodside report first quarter output of 21.9 million barrels, which was in line with the company's guidance for 2013. Sales revenue increased by 21 percent to $1.445 billion.

Woodside explained that Pluto, along with the ongoing success of the North West Shelf operation, were major reasons for a lift in production.

However, compared to the previous quarter, to end-December 2012, production was down 10 percent and sales revenue was 18 percent lower.

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Woodside Halts Pluto Expansion Plans

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. has revealed there are longer discussions with other major oil and gas companies regarding an expansion of the Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia.

Pluto, a $15 billion project that was launched about a year ago, has contributed significantly to Woodside's production profile in recent months.

The operation was a key factor behind Woodside reporting Thursday in its quarterly update a 55 percent jump in production compared to a year earlier for the three months to end-March.

Woodside had previously said it was looking to work with partners on the expansion of Pluto; however, those intentions were also dismissed in the update.

"At present, there are no discussions with other resource owners with regard to Pluto expansion," the Perth-based company said.

"Woodside is continuing its efforts in the pursuit of expansion gas and has exploration activities scheduled in the region over the coming years."

Only a week ago Woodside shelved its development plans for the Browse LNG project, in which the company is majority owner and operator. Woodside said that decision was due to commercial factors.

Despite expansion at Pluto and the development of Browse being currently off the agenda for Woodside, the company recorded several improvements for first quarter 2013 against the corresponding period a year ago.

The increase in production saw Woodside report first quarter output of 21.9 million barrels, which was in line with the company's guidance for 2013. Sales revenue increased by 21 percent to $1.445 billion.

Woodside explained that Pluto, along with the ongoing success of the North West Shelf operation, were major reasons for a lift in production.

However, compared to the previous quarter, to end-December 2012, production was down 10 percent and sales revenue was 18 percent lower.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

Woodside Halts Pluto Expansion Plans

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. has revealed there are longer discussions with other major oil and gas companies regarding an expansion of the Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia.

Pluto, a $15 billion project that was launched about a year ago, has contributed significantly to Woodside's production profile in recent months.

The operation was a key factor behind Woodside reporting Thursday in its quarterly update a 55 percent jump in production compared to a year earlier for the three months to end-March.

Woodside had previously said it was looking to work with partners on the expansion of Pluto; however, those intentions were also dismissed in the update.

"At present, there are no discussions with other resource owners with regard to Pluto expansion," the Perth-based company said.

"Woodside is continuing its efforts in the pursuit of expansion gas and has exploration activities scheduled in the region over the coming years."

Only a week ago Woodside shelved its development plans for the Browse LNG project, in which the company is majority owner and operator. Woodside said that decision was due to commercial factors.

Despite expansion at Pluto and the development of Browse being currently off the agenda for Woodside, the company recorded several improvements for first quarter 2013 against the corresponding period a year ago.

The increase in production saw Woodside report first quarter output of 21.9 million barrels, which was in line with the company's guidance for 2013. Sales revenue increased by 21 percent to $1.445 billion.

Woodside explained that Pluto, along with the ongoing success of the North West Shelf operation, were major reasons for a lift in production.

However, compared to the previous quarter, to end-December 2012, production was down 10 percent and sales revenue was 18 percent lower.

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Woodside's Net Profit Leaps to $2.98B on Strong Delivery from Pluto

Woodside Petroleum reported Wednesday a full-year net profit of $2.98 billion in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, up 97.9 percent from a year earlier.

The company, in its earnings statement, said that reliable production from its flagship Pluto project offshore Western Australia – started up in April last year – is the major contributing factor to its positive result.

"Pluto played a significant role in [the company's] profit result. The project contributed revenues of $1.4 billion and a gross profit of $642 million, for a part of year operations," Woodside's CEO & Managing Director Peter Coleman, said in a statement.

Woodside revealed Wednesday that it is moving ahead with the Browse LNG project, offshore Western Australia, as well as the Sunrise floating LNG venture in the Timor Sea. The company noted that it is in the midst of evaluating tender bids for onshore and offshore infrastructure for the Browse LNG project, while development for the Sunrise project is still in an early stage.

"At Browse, we continue to take a disciplined approach to the assessment of tender bids for offshore and onshore infrastructure to be in a position to consider a final investment decision by the end of June,"  Coleman noted.

"Onto Sunrise, we have had a number of productive technical engagements with the Timor-Leste Government in recent months. Although this engagement does not represent any agreement at this stage, we continue to build on dialogue with both governments to agree on a development which satisfies the requirements of all parties," Coleman added.

Woodside is also making a series of bold bets on projects in Israel and Myanmar.

The company reached an in-principle agreement in December last year to acquire a 30 percent participating interest in the 349/Rachel and 350/Amit petroleum licenses, which contain the mammoth Leviathan gas field offshore Israel.

"We are working with the Leviathan joint venture to finalize the agreement. This year, we also expect to be in a position to consider a final investment decision on a domestic gas development for the Leviathan field," Coleman disclosed.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Woodside's offers to acquire an interest in blocks AD-7 and A-6, offshore Myanmar; were also accepted. Entry into the blocks gives Woodside the opportunity to acquire 3D seismic in 2013/14, with options to drill exploration wells in subsequent exploration periods. AD-7 is operated by South Korea's Daewoo, while A-6 is operated by India's MRPL E&P.

"With potential investment spending at Browse and Leviathan, we have maintained $4.1 billion of available funds in the form of cash and undrawn debt facilities. The balance sheet is well positioned to support growth," Woodside's Executive Vice President and CFO Lawrie Tremaine, detailed his address focused on the company's funding facilities.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

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