Woodside share price higher on Q2 update

The Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price is on the move on Wednesday.

At the time of writing, the energy producer’s shares are up 1% to $35.89.

This follows the release of the company’s second-quarter update.

Woodside share price higher on second-quarter update

Here’s a summary of how Woodside performed during the three months compared to the previous quarter:

• Quarterly production down 5% to 44.5 MMboe.
• Sales volume down 4% to 48.4 MMboe
• Revenue down 29% to US$3,084 million
• Average realised price down 26% to US$63 per barrel of oil equivalent

What happened during the quarter?

For the three months ended 30 June, Woodside reported a 5% decline in production to 44.5 MMboe. This reflects planned turnaround and maintenance activities.

Pleasingly, Woodside’s full-year production guidance remains unchanged at 180–190 MMboe.

Due to the lower production, Woodside delivered sales volume of 48.4 MMboe, down 4% from the first quarter. Combined with a lower average realised price, this led to Woodside reporting a 29% decline in revenue to US$3,084 million.

Management commentary

Woodside’s CEO, Meg O’Neill, was pleased with the company’s “strong” operational performance during the quarter. She said:

Strong underlying operational performance in the second quarter was impacted by planned turnaround and maintenance activities particularly at the onshore Pluto LNG facility and associated offshore facilities in Western Australia.

The team delivered a successful turnaround, completing the planned activities at Pluto on schedule. Whilst production and sales were lower compared with the first quarter of 2023, they were higher than the corresponding period last year, reflecting Woodside’s expanded operations portfolio.

Outlook

Woodside advised that its net profit after tax for the first half of FY 2023 is expected to include the recognition of a Pluto petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) deferred tax asset (DTA) expense of approximately US$630 million.

This is due to lower realised pricing and lower forecast short-term pricing. The post-tax impact of the Pluto PRRT DTA expense is approximately $430 million.

Looking further ahead, the good news for shareholders is that all of Woodside’s guidance for FY 2023 is unchanged. It continues to forecast production of 180MMboe to 190MMboe and capital expenditure of US$6 billion to US$6.5 billion.