That isn’t a reference to the distant planet, but to Woodside’s Pluto LNG which is in the news today.
Woodside Petroleum is Australia’s largest independent oil and gas company with a global portfolio. It is an explorer, developer, producer and supplier of energy. The company has been operating for over 60 years and is now Australia’s leading LNG producer. Some of its current development projects are in Senegal (SNE), Myanmar, Canada (Kitimat) and Timor-Leste / Australia (Sunrise).
Woodside Pluto
Pluto LNG is a gas processing facility which works with gas from the offshore Pluto and Xena gas fields in Western Australia.
The gas is piped through a 180km ‘trunkline’ to a single onshore LNG-processing train. The project is supported by 15-year sales agreements with Kansai Electric and Tokyo Gas which each hold a 5% interest in the project. Pluto LNG currently manages an integrated shipping fleet of four LNG vessels.
Woodside is currently working on the idea of expanding Pluto LNG with the potential development of the Scarborough gas field. There is the possibility of a pipeline connection between Pluto and the North West Shelf. It could accelerate Pluto area gas reserves.
Today’s Woodside Pluto LNG Announcement
Woodside announcedthat the Pluto LNG turnaround has been completed as planned but the mixed refrigerant compressor has experienced vibration on the restart.
Therefore, Woodside said further activities are needed to restart the production, which is targeted by the end of June 2019.
In order to meet its delivery obligations to customers Woodside is undertaking actions such as purchasing third party cargoes to make sure it meets its commitments.
Woodside concluded that this will lead Woodside’s 2019 production to be at the lower end of 88 to 94 MMBOE (Million Barrels of Oil Equivalent) that it had previously guided.
Is Woodside A Buy?
Today’s news goes to show how difficult these large projects can be if a certain element of the operational chain goes wrong. However, Woodside’s share price is up 0.55% in early trading.
Due to the fact that Woodside is a cyclical commodity business, I wouldn’t want to own it in my portfolio. I prefer businesses which can be dependable year to year.
Woodside may be large, but I think the reliable shares in the free report below could be better long term investment picks.
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