Australian LNG player Woodside said its sales revenue more than doubled in the first quarter, boosted by higher realized prices.
The Perth-based company said first-quarter revenue increased to $2.35 billion from $1.12 billion a year ago and $1.53 billion in the prior quarter.
However, sales revenue dropped from record $2.85 billion in the fourth quarter of the last year.
In addition, Woodside reported sales volume of 25.5 MMboe, compared to 31.8 MMboe in the prior quarter, and 25.7 MMboe in the first quarter of 2021.
According to Woodside, its LNG sales volume increased 2 percent to 18.3 MMboe when compared to the prior quarter.
Also, the firm said it average LNG price reached $93 per barrel of oil equivalent or $16 per MMBtu in the first quarter. This compares with $93/boe in the fourth quarter and $40/boe in the same quarter last year.
Woodside continues to work on a merger deal revealed last year with BHP’s oil and gas business. The company’s shareholders will vote on the proposed merger on May 19.
CEO Meg O’Neill said, “the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have reverberated globally, exacerbating already tight energy markets, particularly for LNG.”
“This has resulted in unprecedented volatility and price spikes to levels not seen since the early part of last decade,” O’Neill said.
The CEO said Woodside’s revenue was buoyed by a strong average realized portfolio price of $93 per barrel of oil equivalent, despite overall lower sales volume due to reduced trading activity in the currently volatile global energy market.
“We expect in the second quarter to see the continued benefit of stronger pricing, reflecting the oil price lag in many of our LNG contracts,” O’Neill said.
LNG carrier charter deals
Woodside also confirmed in the quarterly report it has signed charter deals for three newbuild LNG carriers.
The firm said it would take delivery of these vessels prior to the start of the $12 billion Scarborough and Pluto LNG Train 2 developments scheduled to go online in 2026.
Woodside said it has signed a charter deal with Hyundai Glovis for one LNG carrier that would be built at South Korea’s Hyundai Samho.
Hyundai Glovis recently said it had signed a 10-year charter deal with Woodside for one 174,000-cbm LNG carrier scheduled for delivery by August 2024.
As per the two other LNG newbuilds, Woodside signed the charter agreement with Gaslog Carriers.
South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering would build these vessels, Woodside said, without providing any additional information.
In February this year, Peter Livanos-led GasLog revaled the company had signed long-term charter deals for three out four 174,000-cbm LNG carriers it ordered from DSME.
GasLog said in February it had signed agreements with a “major LNG producer” to charter two of these ME-GI newbuilds for a period of ten years each.
The charter would start upon delivery of each vessel from the shipyard in the third and fourth quarter of 2025, it said.