The Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX: WPL) share price is trading 2.03% lower at lunchtime after the company reported its second-quarter results headlined by sales revenue of $738 million.
What were the quarterly results highlights?
Woodside's production fell from 21.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in Q1 2019 to 17.3 mmboe in Q2 2019, while also falling 21.7% on prior corresponding period (pcp) in Q2 2018.
Management reported that production was affected by delayed Pluto liquid natural gas (LNG) turnaround while sales revenue was impacted by an LNG pricing lag and the Pluto turnaround.
Sales revenue for the Aussie oil group fell 31.8% year on year (YoY) from 1,082 mmboe in Q2 2018 to 738 in the latest quarter, as Woodside reported a lower realised price and volume numbers.
Woodside also reported that the Greater Enfield offshore commissioning has commenced and the project remains on schedule ad budget, with the project sitting at 95% completion as at quarter-end.
One big highlight that management noted was the awarding of the Senegal drilling contract during the quarter, as Diamond Offshore received the contract in April 2019 with phased drilling targeted to commence in Q1 2021.
The company signed an agreement for the mid-term supply of approximately 1.5 million tonnes of LNG in the period of 2024 to be sourced from Woodside's global portfolio, subsequent to the latest quarter.
The company expects to report its half-year report for FY2019 on 15 August 2019 and reaffirmed its guidance in the latest update.
Woodside expects to see production costs of $260 million to $300 million, with net finance costs of $90 million to $130 million and income tax of $200 million to $240 million.
How has the Woodside share price performed?
While the Woodside share price is trading lower, its current $34.29 valuation (at the time of writing) remains 12.5% higher than at the start of the year.
The Aussie energy company has benefitted from rising global oil prices which have boosted revenues for the entire domestic sector and boosted the entire S&P/ASX200 Index (ASX: XJO) higher.
Other top performers so far this year within the oil and exploration sector include Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) with strong production numbers the key to maintaining momentum throughout the second half of the year.
