By David Winning
SYDNEY--Woodside Energy showed early benefits from the surge in energy prices due to the Middle East conflict, and signaled stronger outcomes for liquefied natural gas are likely in coming periods.
Woodside said it achieved an average realized price of $63 a barrel of oil equivalent in the three months through March, up 11% on the prior quarter. That helped to lift its operating revenue by 7% to $3.26 billion and overcome weaker production due to the impact of bad weather late in the quarter.
Woodside produced 45.2 million barrels of oil equivalent, down 8% on the three months through December. The company shut down operations in northern and western Australia ahead of the arrival of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle in March. Most production has been restored, with a return to normal LNG production at the Wheatstone facility likely this month.
Oil and gas producers are reporting sharply higher revenue and profit after energy prices surged in the aftermath of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Iran's use of drones and missiles to attack energy infrastructure in neighboring countries has hurt global oil output, and some analysts predict it will take many months to restore production to pre-conflict levels.
Earlier this week, oil major BP--led by former Woodside chief executive Meg O'Neill--said its quarterly earnings more than doubled as its oil traders capitalized on market volatility triggered by the conflict in the Middle East. Chevron and Exxon Mobil are due to report their results for the first quarter of 2026 on Friday.
The price of Brent crude--the global benchmark--is up nearly 83% this year and closed Tuesday at $111.26 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude is also hovering close to $100 a barrel again as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed as a fragile ceasefire holds and the U.S. and Iran appear far apart on terms that could settle the conflict.
"We have seen modest increases to our portfolio average realised pricing in the quarter, driven by elevated spot prices," Woodside Chief Executive Liz Westcott said on Wednesday. "Further benefits of currently higher spot prices will be realised in subsequent quarters for LNG due to lagged contract pricing."
In an early move, Westcott said she has begun a review of the business "to streamline decision making, reduce complexity and improve accountability."
"We expect this will deliver benefits through improved organisational effectiveness and capital management without compromising safety, execution or operational reliability," Westcott said.
Woodside kept its guidance for annual production unchanged at between 172 million barrels and 186 million barrels of oil equivalent.
It also offered an upbeat assessment of progress at its major projects, stating its Scarborough Energy Project offshore Australia is 96% complete and on target for its maiden LNG cargo in the fourth quarter of this year. Drilling at the Trion project in the Gulf of Mexico has begun, and the project is 56% complete.
Write to David Winning at david.winning@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-28-26 1940ET
