• Woodside Petroleum Limited
• Website: www.woodside.com.au

Industry:

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

Fiscal Year-End:

Dec 09

Woodside is one of Australia's top 10 companies by market capitalisation and the nation's largest publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production company. Woodside operates Australia's largest resources project, the North West Shelf Venture in Western Australia, which produces about 40% of Australia's oil and gas. WPL will complete the Pluto LNG project in 2010, the second largest resource project in Australia, as it focuses on global LNG leadership.

WPL participated in the significant NW Shelf gas discoveries made in the 70s. Domestic gas sales commenced in 1984, followed by LNG exports in 1989. Oil discoveries were then developed in the 90s, and a gradual international diversification has taken place, with activities in Africa and the Gulf of Mexico. Shell made two unsolicited merger proposals (in May and December 2000), both unsuccessful in gaining effective control of WPL.

WPL is the operator of the NW Shelf project, which produces gas for domestic consumption in WA (Domgas), LNG for export mostly to Japan, oil and condensate for export and LPG as a by-product, which is also sold on the export market. WPL is an active explorer, with high-quality acreage exposure, both domestically and internationally. The group also has interests in renewable energy technologies.

WPL is unique among Australia's large listed oil and gas companies, due to its substantial and growing exposure to export gas markets via LNG. It has a reserve base that allows the company to grow rapidly, without the need for acquisitions. Additionally, the exceptionally low exploration finding costs per barrel imply inexpensive replacement of production, which is essential to grow the business.

Domestic Gas - mining projects in Western Australia are substantial gas users, along with power generation, industrial and retail customers. LNG - major Japanese, Korean and Chinese customers. Competitors in the WA gas market are primarily the Apache-led JV at Varanus Island. The global LNG market is dominated by the oil majors such as Shell, BP, Petronas and ExxonMobil.