Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares aren't only traded on the ASX.
We may think of Woodside as a purely Australian company.
But the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) energy stock also trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the London Stock Exchange.
The Perth based company reports that 75% of it production still comes from its domestic assets, calling itself "a proudly Australian company".
Commenting on Woodside shares expanding footprint in the Americas, a company spokeswoman said (quoted by The Australian Financial Review):
Woodside continually assesses organic and inorganic opportunities in Australia and across our global portfolio to set the company up for future growth and value creation.
Our recently announced acquisitions in the US – Tellurian and its Driftwood LNG development and OCI's clean ammonia project – are examples of such opportunities, delivering access to different markets and building on our existing position and capabilities in North America.
Indeed, the last 15 months have seen Woodside commit to some $30 billion of investments in North America.
Could Woodside shares de-list from the ASX?
Over the past years, Woodside shares have repeatedly faced headwinds in Australia amid political and environmental activist opposition to new oil and gas projects.
Commenting on Woodside's recent $3 billion bond pricing, at least some of which is likely to fund new gas projects, Brett Morgan, superannuation funds analyst at Market Forces, said earlier this month, "A resounding majority of shareholders rejected Woodside's deplorable climate strategy this year, and investors should not offer up another cent until it shelves its reckless gas growth plans."
MST Marquee energy analyst Saul Kavonic believes this kind of pushback is causing Woodside to focus increasingly on US energy projects.
According to Kavonic (courtesy of the AFR):
There appears a clear trend that Woodside is becoming more American and less Australian in response to policy and market signals that Woodside is more welcome to invest and operate in the US than Australia.
The US welcomes oil and gas investment while Australian politicians go out of their way to make investment in oil and gas harder and harder.
On the back of its recent investment splurges in the US, Kavonic forecasts that the majority of Woodside's value will be in North America by 2030.
Simon Mawhinney is a portfolio manager of Allan Gray, which owns Woodside shares.
Mawhinney said Woodside's increased focus on US energy projects made sense in light of Australia's stringent regulations:
The US, or North America in general, seems like a much better and safer regulatory environment in which to operate in if you're an oil and gas company, and geopolitically very stable, so a far better place to operate than say Australia.
There are some regulatory headwinds in Australia so you cannot fault the management team of Woodside for shifting capital to other jurisdictions.
So, could ASX 200 investors really see Woodside shares de-list in favour of the US stock market?
Maybe.
"It affords optionality, almost an 'out', if the regulatory regime in Australia proves to be too burdensome," Mawhinney said.
"There would be benefits attached to a move like that that may well far outweigh the loss of franking credits," he added, addressing the lack of franking credits available to US-listed companies.
