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- Woodside Petroleum (WPL) has reported a 2020 net loss of roughly US$4.03 billion (roughly A$5.2 billion)
- The oil and gas giant attributes this to a hefty asset write-down of US$4.37 billion (roughly A$5.6 billion) after tax in the June half
- Like its peers, Woodside was harshly affected by the collapse in oil and gas prices, which caused it to put major projects on hold and cut costs
- Underlying earnings totalled US$447 million (roughly A$576.5 million), which is a 58 per cent drop from 2019
- Based on this, the company declared a full-year dividend of US$0.38 (roughly A$0.49) per share
- Annual capital expenditure came to US$1.9 billion (roughly A$2.4 billion) and US$112 million (roughly A$144.2 million) of this was used for exploration
- Positively, Woodside produced 100 million barrels of oil equivalent for the first time in history and total sales volumes reached 106.8 million barrels of oil equivalent
- Woodside’s shares have dropped 2.31 per cent and are trading at $25.36
Woodside Petroleum (WPL) has reported an annual net loss of roughly US$4.03 billion (roughly A$5.2 billion) for 2020.
The oil and gas giant attributes the loss to post-tax impairment losses of US$3.92 billion (roughly A$5.05 billion) for the half year ending June 30 2020. As a result of these impairments and an onerous contract provision for the Corpus Christie LNG agreement, Woodside took an asset write-down of US$4.37 billion (roughly A$5.6 billion) after tax.
Like its peers, Woodside was harshly affected by the collapse in oil and gas prices due to COVID-19. This led the company to put major projects on hold, such as the Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 developments, to save costs.
“The decisions to defer the targeted final investment decision (FID) on our Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 developments and the review of the value of our assets were appropriate responses to extraordinary market uncertainty caused by the pandemic and lower oil and gas prices,” CEO Peter Coleman said.
Underlying earnings totalled US$447 million (roughly A$576.5 million). However, this marks a 58 per cent slump to the US$1.06 billion (roughly A$1.37 billion) achieved in 2019.
Based on the underlying net profit after tax, directors declared a final dividend of US$0.12 (roughly A$0.155) per share, which brings the full-year dividend to US$0.38 (roughly A$0.49) per share.
“Our disciplined balance sheet management has safeguarded Woodside’s financial resilience and positioned us to take advantage of emerging growth opportunities as markets recover,” Peter added.
On a positive note, Woodside produced 100 million barrels of oil equivalent for the first time in history.
“The outstanding performance of our base business in 2020 was reflected in our low unit production cost of $4.8 per barrel of oil equivalent and the high reliability of our operated LNG facilities,” Peter said.
Furthermore, total sales volumes reached 106.8 million barrels of oil equivalent despite the effects of a tropical cyclone in February.
The company allocated US$1.9 billion (roughly A$2.4 billion) towards capital expenditure and US$112 million (roughly A$144.2 million) of this was used for exploration. The petroleum company believes exploration costs for 2021 will be roughly in line with last year.
Woodside’s investment expenditure guidance for 2021 is between US$2.9 billion (roughly A$3.7 billion) and US$3.2 billion (roughly A$4.1 billion). The ASX-200 lister, will focus on its Sangomar and Scarborough developments as it works towards a final investment decision later this year.
Woodside’s shares have dropped 2.31 per cent and are trading at $25.36 at 11:04 am AEDT.
