SYDNEY — Woodside Energy Group Ltd. said its annual profit more than tripled as it benefited from higher oil and natural gas prices and a major contribution from the petroleum business that it bought from BHP Group Ltd.
Woodside reported a net profit of US$6.5 billion for the 12 months through December, up from US$1.98 billion in 2021. Directors of the company declared a final dividend of US$1.44 a share, bringing the full-year payout to US$2.53 a share.
Annual underlying earnings, which strip out one-off items, totaled US$5.23 billion. Woodside said its annual revenue rose to US$16.82 billion, from US$6.96 billion in 2021.
“Throughout the year we took steps to maximize our exposure to favorable prices, expanding our global marketing presence and increasing trading activities,” said Chief Executive Meg O’Neill. “Our exposure to gas hub pricing for produced LNG sales was 23%.”
The result caps a transformational 12 months for Woodside, which rose up the ranks of the world’s largest energy companies as a result of the deal with BHP. Woodside is also advancing a raft of new projects, led by the Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 development in Australia that aims to ship its maiden cargo of liquefied natural gas in 2026.
Investors had expected a sharply higher net profit after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine early in 2022 led energy prices to surge, including for liquefied natural gas. Across its portfolio, the company’s output fetched an average realized price of US$98.4 per barrel of oil equivalent in 2022, up 63% compared with 2021.
Rising prices coincided with Woodside’s output expanding significantly as a result of the BHP deal. Woodside produced 157.7 million barrels of oil equivalent in the 12 months through December, beating prior guidance and well ahead of the 91.1 million barrels of oil equivalent achieved in 2021.
Woodside expects output to rise again in 2023, with management on Monday reaffirming a target of 180 million-190 million BOE.