Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares are pushing higher on Wednesday morning.
At the time of writing, the energy giant's shares are up almost 2% to $32.97.
Image source: Getty Images
Why are Woodside shares rising?
Investors have been bidding the company's shares higher today after it released a quarterly update which was ahead of expectations.
According to the release, Woodside reported production of 45.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) for the March quarter.
This is ahead of expectations from Macquarie, which had forecast production of 43.7 MMboe for the period.
Management advised that Sangomar, Shenzi, North West Shelf Project and Pluto LNG all delivered outstanding reliability at or above 99% during the three months.
Strong sales
Woodside's sales volumes also came in strong at 51.7 MMboe, comfortably above Macquarie's estimate of 46.6 MMboe.
This helped drive operating revenue of US$3.26 billion for the quarter, which was also ahead of the broker's expectation of US$3.09 billion.
The stronger than expected result was supported by a higher average realised price of US$63 per barrel of oil equivalent, up 11% on the prior quarter.
This reflects improved market conditions, including higher spot prices for LNG and oil-linked products.
Management commentary
Woodside's new CEO, Liz Westcott, was pleased with the quarter. She said:
Production for the period was 45.2 million barrels of oil equivalent, underpinned by exceptional reliability of our world-class assets, including 99.9% at Sangomar and 99.0% at Shenzi. In Western Australia, Pluto LNG achieved 100% reliability for the third consecutive quarter, while the North West Shelf Project delivered 99.7%. Output from our Western Australian assets was impacted late in the quarter by Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle. The team's cyclone response ensured we maintained the safety of our people, assets and the environment throughout the shutdown and restoration of operations.
We have seen modest increases to our portfolio average realised pricing in the quarter, driven by elevated spot prices. Further benefits of currently higher spot prices will be realised in subsequent quarters for LNG due to lagged contract pricing.
Outlook
There have been no changes to Woodside's guidance for FY 2026.
Total production is expected to be 172mmboe to 186mmboe with production costs of US$1.5 billion to US$1.8 billion and capital expenditure of US$4 billion to US$4.5 billion.
Following today's gain, Woodside shares are now up 40% since the start of the year.
