The Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price is under the spotlight after the oil and LNG giant announced its 2022 fourth quarter.
Record quarter
Woodside said that it achieved record quarterly production of 51.6 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe), which was up 0.7% from the 2022 third quarter.
However, sales volume of 52.2 MMboe was down 8.5% compared to the 2022 third quarter, primarily because of reduced third-party trades.
Revenue for the quarter was $5.16 billion, down 12% from the third quarter of 2022. It was impacted by reducing trading activity and lower realised prices. The average realised price was $98 per barrel of oil equivalent.
The business achieved record full year production in 2022, of 157.7 MMboe, which was more than the guided range of between 153 MMboe to 157 MMboe because of “strong operational performance” in the fourth quarter. That’s good news for the Woodside share price and profit.
Progress with projects
The Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill explained how the business is progressing with its projects:
At Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 in Senegal, subsea installation and development drilling has progressed well, with seven of the planned 23 wells now completed. The floating production storage and offloading facility (FPSO) is currently undergoing topsides integration, pre-commissioning and commissioning activities in Singapore. Overall, the project is 77% complete and is on target to start producing oil in late 2023.
Progress was also made at the proposed Trion project in Mexico, where we are aiming to be ready for a final investment decision (FID) in 2023. During the quarter competitive tenders were issued for the drilling rig, subsea equipment, and installation scopes for subsea, the floating production unit, and the floating storage and offloading vessel.
In our new energy portfolio, front-end engineering design (FEED) has now been completed at H2OK and contracts were awarded for key equipment, putting us on target to be ready for FID in 2023.
Final thoughts on the Woodside share price
It has been an incredible 12 months for Woodside, rising by over 50%. The energy giant has done well at capitalising on the stronger demand for energy.
I’d be very happy if I were a long-term shareholder. But, I wouldn’t call the business a great buy today, because the stronger profits seem to already be factored into the Woodside share price. It will be interesting to see how FY23 goes.
There are other ASX dividend shares that may have a better chance of long-term share price growth.
