Woodside posts record production and upgrades guidance; shares surge

Woodside (ASX: WDS) reports its first full three months of contribution from its merger with BHP's petroleum business.

Unsurprisingly, production in the September quarter came in at a record 51.2m barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe), up 52% compared with the previous quarter. Woodside said the production boost was further aided by the completion of planned turnarounds at several assets.

Revenue jumped 70% to $5.9bn thanks to higher production as well as a slight increase in average realised prices, up 7% to $102 a barrel.

Woodside shares rallied 4.1% as the market opened.

The rally could be further fuelled by higher oil prices, where Brent crude rose 2.2% to $92.5 a barrel. Its also worth noting that all US sectors were red overnight except energy, which rallied 2.94%.

Guidance upgrade

“Strong operational performance across the combined portfolio has allowed us to upgrade our full-year production guidance to 153-157 MMboe," said CEO Meg O'Neill.

Woodside was previously guiding towards full-year production of 145-153 MMboe.

In addition, full year exploration expenditure guidance was bumped up to $500-600m from $400-500m. While capital expenditure guidance was lowered to $4-4.3bn from $4.3-4.8bn.

Major capital projects: On track

Scarborough and Pluto Train 2: "Overall, the Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 projects combined were 21% complete at the end of the quarter and remain on track for targeted first LNG cargo in 2026."

Sangomar: "... six of the planned 23 wells now complete. The project was 70% complete at quarter end with first oil targeted for the second half of 2023.

Woodside share price chart (Source: TradingView)