Woodside Energy Cuts Annual Output Guidance, Aims to Reduce Beaumont Stake

By David Winning

SYDNEY--Woodside Energy on Wednesday lowered the top end of its annual production guidance, partly due to revised volumes from the Beaumont New Ammonia project in Texas that has disappointed since it was acquired around two years ago.

Woodside said it now expects to produce between 174 million and 181 million barrels of oil equivalent in the 12 months through December. At the midpoint of the new range this represents a downgrade of 1.1% on prior guidance of 174 million-185 million BOE.

It cited revised volumes of 1.5 million-2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent from the Beaumont project, a narrower window for a maiden liquefied natural gas cargo from the Scarborough Energy Project in Australia, and reduced output at the Okha Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel offshore Western Australia.

Woodside said it has completed a strategic review of Beaumont and plans to begin a formal process to reduce its investment in the project. It comes around two months after Chief Executive Liz Westcott said the review reflected a shift in international policy positions since it agreed to the US$2.35 billion acquisition in August 2024 and slack demand for lower carbon ammonia, which has potential uses in power generation and as a marine fuel.

Overall, Woodside said its third-quarter performance was strong and benefited from higher output and improved pricing for liquefied natural gas.

Woodside reported quarterly sales revenue of US$4.28 billion, up 2% on the three months through June, despite a lower average price for its liquids output.

Woodside produced 46.2 million barrels of oil equivalent in the third quarter, up 12% on the previous three months, as production from the Pluto LNG project in Australia rebounded following the completion of maintenance work.

Its LNG fetched an average price of US$84 per barrel of oil equivalent, up 27% on the second quarter, due partly to price lags and stronger gas hub market pricing.

Westcott said Woodside's major growth projects remain on budget and schedule, led by the Scarborough project.

"The Scarborough Energy Project is now 99% complete, with gas from the Scarborough reservoir introduced into the FPU and exported into the trunkline during the quarter," she said. "We remain on track for first LNG cargo this year."

Write to David Winning at david.winning@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 20, 2026 18:41 ET (22:41 GMT)