Woodside chief executive, Don Voelte, told the newspaper he wanted between 20 and 25% of revenue originating in the US and 25-30% from “riskier places around the world.”
As part of a long-term strategy to source more petroleum from the US and African countries, such as Mauritania, Libya, Kenya and Sierra Leone, the company plans to spend a record A$500 million on exploration this year.
Voelte also told the AFR that Woodside was “closing in on another opportunity in the Middle East.”
Woodside’s core operations in the North West Shelf, Western Australia, will provide the cashflow to pursue these overseas opportunites, according to Voelte.
In September, the company announced it would expand its Gulf of Mexico interests, paying $US282.7 million ($A378.6 million) to acquire Houston-based Gryphon Exploration Company, a private upstream oil and gas company with extensive exploration and production interests in the Gulf.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd subsidiary Woodside Energy also assumed Gryphon's debt, making the total acquisition cost $US296.9 million ($A397.62 million).
The purchase delivered immediate production from 15 fields, which were producing 30 million cubic feet of gas equivalent a day.
Voelte told the AFR that faster turnaround and cashflow meant the GoM’s oil and gas industry had the potential to grow more quickly than in Africa.
“[The US] has an appetite for energy unlike anywhere else in the world,” Voelte said.
He said the stability of the company’s Australian business and its GoM presence, let Woodside explore for potentially large discoveries in higher-risk regions, such as Africa.
Currently, Woodside holds a 47% stake and is the operator of the A$750 million Chinguetti project in Mauritania. Production is expected to start next month and will initially produce 75,000 barrels per day.
The company and its partners have also discovered the Tiof prospect, but have not yet sanctioned its development.
Later this month, Woodside is also due to start drilling in Libya. Woodside was among the first Western companies to re-enter Libya when US and United Nations sanctions were removed in 2003 following Libya's agreement to pay compensation to families of people killed in the 1988 bombing of a Pan American flight over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Woodside was an enthusiastic participant in recent Libyan bidding rounds. It has acquired onshore and offshore Libyan acreage and is now the third-biggest holder of Libyan exploration acreage.
Later this month, it will begin a six-well exploration program in the onshore Murzuq Basin, 1500 kilometres southwest of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
The combined onshore program has been priced at more than $US100 million. Woodside is a 45% partner and operator with Repsol and Hellenic Petroleum.
Woodside will also soon start an initial seven-well program will be drilled in the onshore portion of the Sirte Basin in northern Libya.
Late this year, Woodside plans to drill four exploration wells up to 100 kilometres offshore in the Gulf of Sirte.
While Woodside has yet to announce the size of the oil targets it has identified in Libya, its Murzuq and Sirte Basin blocks are clolse to huge finds.
In the Murzuq Basin, there are several multi-hundred million barrel fields, while in the onshore Sirte Woodside's blocks are surrounded by several multi-billion barrel fields.
The offshore program has been costed at $US94 million. Woodside's partners are US group Occidental and Liwa, a United Arab Emirates government-owned company.
