Woodside Energy Group Ltd. said Wednesday it had applied to pull out its shares from the London Stock Exchange to cut costs.
“Woodside has reviewed its current listing structure and decided to delist from the London Stock Exchange (LSE)”, the oil and gas exploration and production company said in a statement. “Woodside shares represented by depositary interests account for approximately 1 percent of Woodside’s issued share capital.
“Trading volumes of Woodside shares on the LSE are low and delisting from the LSE will reduce Woodside’s administration costs”.
The cost-cutting move comes after Perth, Australia-based Woodside committed billions to new acquisitions. It said September 20 it had completed the $2.35 billion purchase of an under-construction ammonia production project in Beaumont, Texas, from OCI Global. Twenty percent of the price has yet to be paid. On October 9 Woodside announced the closure of its $1.2 billion acquisition of Tellurian Inc., taking over the under-construction U.S. Gulf Coast Driftwood LNG project.
Last month Woodside, a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) player in Australia, also acquired new debt with the issuance of senior unsecured United States dollar bonds with a principal amount of $2 billion. That consists of $1.25 billion due in 10 years and $750 million maturing in 30 years. “The funds will be used for general corporate purposes”, it said in a press release September 6.
Woodside expects to complete the cancelation of its London stock on November 20, having to satisfy a required 20-day waiting period from the notice of intended cancelation.
Woodside issued shares on the LSE June 2022 after acquiring the oil and gas portfolio of BHP Group Ltd. It also launched on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) following the acquisition.
Woodside said it will continue trading on the ASX and the NYSE.
Also on Wednesday it revised up the lower end of its 2024 production guidance and now projects 189 million to 195 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) as it reported a record quarterly output of 53.1 MMboe for the third quarter. The offshore Sangomar field in Senegal, where Woodside owns a 90 percent operating stake, reached its nameplate capacity of 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) gross in the period after starting production last June.
Woodside’s gas production in the July–September quarter averaged two billion cubic feet a day (Bcfd), unchanged compared to the same period last year but up six percent against the second quarter of 2024. Its liquid production totaled 226 million bpd, up 34 percent year-on-year and 44 percent quarter-on-quarter.
It sold 2.2 Bcfd of gas and 228 MMbpd of liquids in the third quarter of 2024.
Woodside logged $3.7 billion in revenue, up 13 percent year-over-year and 21 percent quarter-on-quarter due to higher sales volumes and LNG prices.
“Our 39 percent exposure to LNG gas hub indices allowed us to take advantage of increased LNG spot prices in the market over the period, demonstrating the importance of maintaining a balanced and flexible portfolio”, chief executive Meg O’Neill said.
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