The Perth-based company yesterday said the increase in production to 18 million barrels of oil equivalent was a result of improved production at its North West Shelf Venture and the contribution from Enfield oil field, which started production in July 2006.

But Woodside said the output was 4.9% % lower than the previous quarter largely due to disruptions caused by tropical cyclones.

Increased production saw first quarter sales rise to $899.3 million, an improvement of 25% from a year ago, but it dropped 18.1% lower than the previous quarter due to lower sales volumes and weaker commodity prices.

Woodside said its share of domestic gas at the NWSV off Western Australia moved up to 275 terajoules per day from 261 TJ per day in the previous quarter due to higher customer demand.

The company’s share of liquefied natural gas production at the Woodside-operated project slipped to 5376 tonnes per day, down from the 5666 tonnes per day in the previous quarter. Woodside said this was due to reduced production with warmer seasonal conditions and production restrictions as a result of tropical cyclone activity in the area.

Train 3 and the Goodwyn platform at the NWSV will be shut down for scheduled maintenance for the month of May, it said.

Gross production at the Enfield oilfield, also off WA, rose to 45,871 bopd, up from the 39,892 bopd reported in the previous quarter, thanks to water injection activities to boost the reservoir.

Woodside said gross production at the Chinguetti field off Mauritania fell to 18,333 bpd from 23,390 bpd in the previous quarter due to drilling activities and planned intervention work on Chinguetti-14.

But gross April production is averaging above 20,000 bpd.

Woodside said a seismic campaign to acquire high-resolution 3D and 4D data at Chinguetti has been completed and the results will be interpreted and used to “optimise” future well drilling opportunities.