Latest news with #H2OK
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australian energy giant ditches US plant as Trump attacks green power
Woodside, the largest Australian oil and gas company, has abandoned plans to build a lower-carbon fuels plant in the United States as energy users and producers reel from Donald Trump's decision to slash tax breaks for green technologies. The Perth-based energy giant told investors on Wednesday it would take a $US140 million ($214 million) profit hit after deciding to walk away from the H2OK liquid hydrogen project it had been planning in Oklahoma, blaming the rising cost of making cleaner hydrogen and weaker-than-expected customer demand. 'We have made the decision to exit the H2OK project, demonstrating our disciplined approach to portfolio management,' Woodside chief executive Meg O'Neill said on Wednesday. Woodside, a producer of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), is pursuing the development of lower-carbon hydrogen as part of its climate transition strategy. Because hydrogen emits only water vapour when burned, it is considered by many to be a promising climate-friendly energy source that could eventually substitute fossil fuels and help clean up heavy-polluting industries, as long as it is made using low- or zero-carbon energy sources. Woodside's H2OK would have used an electrolyser, powered by the electricity grid, to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. However, Woodside announced it was pausing the H2OK project in January, shortly after Donald Trump's return to the White House. It also scrapped a separate plan to build a concentrated solar thermal energy facility in California through a partnership with Heliogen, a company backed by billionaire Bill Gates. While not directly attributing those decisions to Trump's energy agenda, Woodside at the time said it needed to consider the implications of the administration's pledge to dismantle support for US clean energy investments, including halting the disbursement of funds from the $567 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which had been offering generous tax breaks for renewable developers. This month, Trump secured the passage of a giant tax and domestic policy bill through Congress, which will make it cheaper and easier for companies to drill and produce fossil fuels, while cutting funding for electric cars and wind and solar farms. Woodside remains committed to one clean energy investment in the US, the Beaumont lower-carbon ammonia project in Texas. The project was 95 per cent completed as of June 30, the company said.
The Age
6 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Australian energy giant ditches US plant as Trump attacks green power
Woodside, the largest Australian oil and gas company, has abandoned plans to build a lower-carbon fuels plant in the United States as energy users and producers reel from Donald Trump's decision to slash tax breaks for green technologies. The Perth-based energy giant told investors on Wednesday it would take a $US140 million ($214 million) profit hit after deciding to walk away from the H2OK liquid hydrogen project it had been planning in Oklahoma, blaming the rising cost of making cleaner hydrogen and weaker-than-expected customer demand. 'We have made the decision to exit the H2OK project, demonstrating our disciplined approach to portfolio management,' Woodside chief executive Meg O'Neill said on Wednesday. Woodside, a producer of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), is pursuing the development of lower-carbon hydrogen as part of its climate transition strategy. Because hydrogen emits only water vapour when burned, it is considered by many to be a promising climate-friendly energy source that could eventually substitute fossil fuels and help clean up heavy-polluting industries, as long as it is made using low- or zero-carbon energy sources. Woodside's H2OK would have used an electrolyser, powered by the electricity grid, to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. However, Woodside announced it was pausing the H2OK project in January, shortly after Donald Trump's return to the White House. It also scrapped a separate plan to build a concentrated solar thermal energy facility in California through a partnership with Heliogen, a company backed by billionaire Bill Gates. While not directly attributing those decisions to Trump's energy agenda, Woodside at the time said it needed to consider the implications of the administration's pledge to dismantle support for US clean energy investments, including halting the disbursement of funds from the $567 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which had been offering generous tax breaks for renewable developers. This month, Trump secured the passage of a giant tax and domestic policy bill through Congress, which will make it cheaper and easier for companies to drill and produce fossil fuels, while cutting funding for electric cars and wind and solar farms. Woodside remains committed to one clean energy investment in the US, the Beaumont lower-carbon ammonia project in Texas. The project was 95 per cent completed as of June 30, the company said.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Woodside beats Q2 revenue estimates, exits hydrogen project as costs bite
July 23 (Reuters) - Australia's Woodside Energy ( opens new tab reported a stronger-than-expected 8% rise in second-quarter revenue on Wednesday due to robust output from Senegal's Sangomar project, but took hefty writedowns on a failed hydrogen venture and aging offshore facilities. The revenue beat underscores the strong performance of the Sangomar project, which has contributed $510 million in revenue for the quarter. The company's overall production jumped 13% to 50.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) during the quarter, up from 44.4 million boe in the same period last year. The country's top gas producer posted revenue of $3.28 billion for the three months ended June 30, surging 8% from $3.04 billion a year earlier and exceeding the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Woodside also reduced annual unit production costs to $8-$8.50 per boe from $8.50-$9 per boe. Shares rose as much as 2.4% to a one-month high of A$25.44 by 0057 GMT, outpacing gains of over 1% in the broader energy sub-index (.AXEJ), opens new tab. However, the company said it was abandoning its H2OK hydrogen project in Oklahoma, citing cost escalation and weaker-than-expected demand in the low-carbon hydrogen sector. The exit will result in an impairment loss of about $140 million on a pre-tax basis. "We have made the decision to exit the H2OK Project, demonstrating our disciplined approach to portfolio management," the company said. Woodside also faces mounting decommissioning costs for its aging Minerva, Stybarrow and Griffin offshore facilities, with technical challenges at closed sites driving up expenses. The company expects to book $400-$500 million in pre-tax charges related to the decommissioning work. On the positive side, Woodside completed the sale of a 40% stake in its Louisiana LNG project to Stonepeak for $5.7 billion in June, with the buyer agreeing to fund 75% of the project's capital expenditures in 2025 and 2026. The company said it continues to attract interest from potential partners for further stakes. Woodside in late March agreed to sell offshore oil and gas assets in Trinidad and Tobago to London-based Perenco, which included production facilities and interests in shallow water fields. As a result of the asset sale, Woodside marginally adjusted its 2025 production forecast to between 188 million and 195 million boe, compared with its previous guidance range of 186 million to 196 million boe.
