Woodside Ltd Stock Price, News & Analysis

SLB (NYSE: SLB) has secured a major drilling contract from Woodside Energy (NYSE: WDS) for the ultra-deepwater Trion development project in Mexico. The contract encompasses the delivery of 18 ultra-deepwater wells over three years, utilizing AI-enabled drilling capabilities.

The comprehensive scope includes digital directional drilling services, logging while drilling (LWD), surface logging, cementing, drilling and completions fluids, completions, and wireline services. The project will operate in challenging water depths up to 2,500 meters.

Services will commence in early 2026, managed through SLB's Performance Live™ digital service delivery centers. This follows a previous major contract awarded to SLB OneSubsea™ joint venture in 2023 for subsea equipment. The Trion field, being developed by Woodside in partnership with Pemex, targets first production in 2028.

Woodside (WDS) has agreed to sell its Greater Angostura assets in Trinidad and Tobago to Perenco for $206 million. The deal includes Woodside's interests in the shallow water Angostura and Ruby offshore oil and gas fields, associated production facilities, and the onshore terminal.

The transaction, expected to close in Q3 2025 with an effective date of January 1, 2025, will provide near-term cash flow for ongoing investments and shareholder distributions. Greater Angostura currently produces approximately 12% of Trinidad and Tobago's gas supply. Over the past two decades, Woodside has paid more than $2 billion in taxes and invested over $1 billion in major capital shallow water developments in the region.

Following the closure, Perenco will assume ownership, operatorship, and restoration obligations of the assets. Most Woodside employees in Trinidad and Tobago are expected to transfer to Perenco. The deepwater Calypso field is not included in this transaction.

Woodside Energy Group (ASX: WDS) reported record production of 193.9 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) for full-year 2024, driven by outstanding early performance at Sangomar and 98% reliability at operated LNG assets. Net profit after tax increased 115% year-on-year to $3,573 million, while underlying NPAT decreased 13% to $2,880 million due to lower realized oil and gas prices.

The company declared a final dividend of US 53 cents per share, bringing the full-year fully franked dividend to US 122 cents per share with an 80% payout ratio. Unit production cost decreased 2% to $8.1/boe despite inflationary pressures, while operating cash flow remained strong at $5.8 billion with an 82% cash margin.

Strategic achievements include the acquisition of Louisiana LNG and Beaumont New Ammonia, completion of Scarborough Joint Venture sell-downs totaling $2.3 billion, and signing long-term LNG sales agreements with Asian buyers. Major projects are progressing well, with the Scarborough Energy Project now 80% complete and on track for first LNG cargo in 2026.

Heliogen Inc. (OTCQX: HLGN) has announced the completion of Project Capella, a pioneering demonstration project for Generation 3 Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology. The project, jointly funded by Woodside Energy and the US Department of Energy, aimed to develop a 5-MWe concentrated solar power plant.

While achieving several critical milestones in prototyping and design, including Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) completion and Centrec particle receiver development, the project concluded after the FEED phase due to cost escalation. Both companies decided not to proceed with construction but remain open to future collaboration.

Heliogen is now shifting its focus to meet growing demand for dispatchable, low-carbon energy solutions for data centers using their Gen 2 CSP technology, which is already commercially proven. The project successfully advanced key technological innovations and established important foundations for future developments in CSP technology.

Woodside Energy Group (WDS) reported record annual production of 194 MMboe in 2024, driven by outstanding performance from Sangomar producing 75 Mboe/day. Q4 2024 production was 51.4 MMboe, down 3% from Q3 due to lower seasonal demand and an unplanned Pluto shutdown.

Q4 revenue reached $3,470 million, a 6% decrease from Q3. The company sold 33.6% of produced LNG at prices linked to gas hub indices, achieving a 31% premium compared to oil-linked pricing.

Key projects progressed with Scarborough Energy project at 78% completion, Trion project at 20% completion, and Beaumont New Ammonia on track for H2 2025 startup. The company completed the sale of a 15.1% stake in Scarborough to JERA for $1.4 billion and signed an EPC contract with Bechtel for Louisiana LNG development, targeting FID from Q1 2025.

Woodside Energy has reached a significant milestone in its Scarborough Energy Project with the final delivery of Pluto Train 2 modules to the Pluto LNG facility in Karratha, Western Australia. Since February 2024, 51 modules weighing 56,000 metric tonnes have been transported from Batam, Indonesia. The project, now over 75% complete, will enhance the facility's capacity by approximately 5 million tonnes of LNG per annum and supply up to 225 terajoules per day to the Western Australian market.

Construction began in August 2022, with Bechtel managing engineering, procurement, and construction. The project targets first LNG delivery in 2026 and is expected to generate over A$50 billion in tax payments while creating over 3,000 construction jobs and sustaining about 600 operational positions.

Woodside and Chevron have agreed to a strategic asset swap that will reshape their Australian LNG portfolio. Under the agreement, Woodside will acquire Chevron's 16.67% interests in the North West Shelf (NWS) Project, NWS Oil Project, and 20% interest in the Angel CCS Project. In exchange, Woodside will transfer its 13% stake in Wheatstone and 65% interest in Julimar-Brunello Projects to Chevron.

The transaction includes a cash payment from Chevron to Woodside of up to $400 million, comprising $300 million at completion and up to $100 million in contingent payments. The deal is expected to close in 2026, with an effective date of January 1, 2024. The net impact will increase Woodside's Proved plus Probable Reserves by 9.6 MMboe.

Woodside has signed a revised lump sum turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Bechtel for the development of Louisiana LNG, a three-train facility with 16.5 million tonnes per annum capacity. Bechtel will continue work under a notice to proceed (LNTP), focusing on site construction and securing key materials.

The project is fully permitted and targets final investment decision (FID) readiness from Q1 2025. Total expenditure until then is forecast at up to $1.3 billion. The estimated forward cost for the foundation development remains at $900-960/tonne, excluding pipeline costs.

Woodside Energy, Baker Hughes, and Bechtel collaborated in a tricycle race fundraiser for United Way of Greater Houston, raising $150,000. The event featured racing teams from all three companies and United Way. Woodside, which has a 36-year partnership with United Way, matches employee contributions and contributed $667,000 to United Way last year through their annual campaign for employee fundraising and volunteering opportunities.