Woodside’s reserves up partly due to ‘outstanding’ output at field off Senegal

Australia’s energy giant Woodside Energy has recorded an increase in proved reserves compared to the previous year, due in part to bringing online its project offshore Senegal.

As stated by Woodside, a 54.9 MMboe increase in proved reserves and 46.2 MMboe in proved plus probable reserves was recorded in 2024, paired with a 26.7 MMboe decrease in 2C contingent resources.

The Australian major attributes the uptick to the “strong” underlying performance of its assets, the final investment decisions (FIDs) of projects in Australia and the US, and performance-based revisions across the portfolio, notably North West Shelf–whose extension was allowed to proceed thanks to an environmental permit secured in December–and Bass Strait.

Another reason is the post-start-up field performance at Sangomar, Senegal’s first offshore development which achieved first oil in June 2024. MODEC’s FPSO Léopold Sédar Senghor is deployed at the field.

Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said: “The reserves update underscores Woodside’s high-quality assets and disciplined execution. The outstanding early performance at Sangomar again demonstrates Woodside’s proven record of delivering large-scale projects that provide sustainable returns over the long term.”

Sangomar is said to have ramped up in less than nine weeks, exceeding 94% production reliability in Q4 2024. Both water and gas injection systems have been fully commissioned.

The Senegalese asset produced 13.3 MMboe of crude in 2024, with 12.9 MMboe of sales generating approximately $950 million in revenue. The final cost of the field development Phase 1 amounted to around $5 billion, falling within the $4.9–5.2 billion cost estimate.

“Sangomar is forecast to continue producing on plateau into the second quarter of 2025 and with continued strong asset performance across the portfolio we are well positioned for another year of delivering value for shareholders. As Woodside embarks on the next phase of growth, continuing to execute Scarborough and Trion and preparing for a final investment decision on Louisiana LNG, we will maintain our disciplined approach and commitment to safety, reliability and performance,” noted O’Neill.

Early performance from the S500 reservoirs demonstrated what Woodside claims is excellent productivity, which resulted in proved reserves addition of 16.2 MMboe and proved plus probable reserves of 15.4 MMboe. 

The project also includes four injector-producer well pairs in the S400 reservoirs, which the firm says exceeded prestart expectations, reducing downside connectivity risk. Water injection started in Q4 2024, and the migration of reserves associated with water injection is expected in 2025, pending additional well performance.

The depreciation, depletion, and amortization (DDA) rate for Sangomar in 2024 totaled around $56/boe. Woodside expects the 2025 rate to reduce by 5–10% including the anticipated reserve additions, with the project forecast to continue producing on plateau into the second quarter of 2025.

Aside from this, Woodside’s proved undeveloped reserves dropped by 323.0 MMboe, proved plus probable undeveloped reserves by 504.7 MMboe, and 2C contingent resources decreased by 5.6 MMboe after completing the sales of a 10.0% interest in the Scarborough joint venture to LJ Scarborough and 15.1% to JERA.

As for Woodside’s non-Australian operations, its subsidiary is working on the Trion deepwater oil field development in the Perdido Belt of the western Gulf of Mexico/Gulf of America. Last week, SBM Offshore started the construction phase of a disconnectable turret mooring (DTM) for a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit that will work at the field.