Woodside Energy Shakes Up Dividend Policy, Targets $400 Million in Cost Cuts

By David Winning

SYDNEY--Woodside Energy rolled out a new dividend policy and said it is targeting US$400 million of annual cost reductions from 2028, as it prepares to bring on the Scarborough natural-gas project in Australia and advances other growth developments.

Woodside on Thursday said it is now aiming to return 20-40% of adjusted operating cash flows to shareholders.

"We will prioritize 20% of adjusted operating cash flow as a base dividend, with up to another 20% available for additional dividends and/or buybacks," Chief Executive Liz Westcott said at Woodside's Capital Markets Day in Sydney.

It marks a change on Woodside's previous policy, which aimed to return at least 50% of underlying net profit as dividends, with a target payout ratio of between 50% and 80%.

Woodside is progressing several major projects, led by Scarborough which is 99% complete and on track for its first cargo of liquefied natural gas before the end of December. Its medium-term project pipeline includes the Louisiana LNG project in the U.S. and Trion in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Together with our base business, these projects are expected to support sales volume growth of more than 30% to approximately 280 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2032, and generate more than US$40 billion of adjusted operating cash flow from 2027 to 2032," said Westcott.

Woodside added that it is targeting a return on average capital employed of 12-15% across its portfolio by the mid-2030s.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 04, 2026 17:30 ET (22:30 GMT)