The nation’s biggest oil and gas producer says the US-Israeli war on Iran has created an uncertain environment that will have a wide-ranging impact on global energy markets.
The US-led conflict in the Middle East, now in its third week, has driven a sharp rise in oil prices to more than $US100 a barrel, from about $US71 before, which has in turn raised on-ground petrol prices for motorists and businesses.
“It’s yet another reminder that we are operating in a volatile and uncertain environment,” Woodside Energy acting chief executive Liz Westcott told investors on Monday.
“Today, more than ever, shareholders and stakeholders rely on companies like Woodside to do their jobs responsibly.”
Woodside shares rose by almost 2.5 per cent in morning trading to $31.80.
Woodside posted a 24 per cent slump in bottom-line net profit for calendar 2025 to $US2.7 billion ($A3.8 billion) after the impact of soft commodity prices outweighed record production and reduced unit costs.
Looking ahead, Ms Westcott said global demand for energy was clearly increasing and Woodside was positioning itself to become an international LNG powerhouse.
“The volatile situation in the Middle East has shown that global energy markets can be swiftly and significantly impacted by geopolitical events,” she told the company’s annual sustainability briefing in Sydney.
“At the same time, recent policy and market developments suggest the pace and scale of the global energy transition is becoming less, not more, certain.”
The current conflict, which is also affecting LNG supply flows, has shown countries place high importance on energy affordability and reliability in the context of the energy transition.
At the same time, Woodside remains confident it can bounce off the decarbonisation goals of its customers to sell more LNG, although it acknowledges coal demand continues to grow in the Asia-Pacific region.
Ms Westcott reiterated on Monday that Woodside was optimistic about demand for crude in calendar 2026, despite the shift away from fossil fuels.
Market Forces head of Australian campaigns Brett Morgan said increasing LNG supply to Asia was likely to undermine the clean energy transition by slowing the uptake of renewable energy.
“Woodside is living in a gas-fired fantasy by pushing a false ‘coal-to-gas switching’ narrative in Asia, despite zero evidence of this happening,” he said.
“Gas is forecast to play a small and declining role in the global clean energy transition as the world seeks to achieve the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, yet Woodside continues to greenwash its massive fossil fuel expansion plans.”
In 2025, Woodside met its internal target for a 15 per cent reduction in emissions.
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