Woodside's profits for the first half of 2002 were $197 million, down from the record $580 million for the same period last year.

Most of profit from this period was a result of the $185 million profit booked as a result of selling part of Woodside's equity in the Sunrise field in the Timor Sea.

Woodside said that without these two abnormalities it would have posted a 26% reduction in profits for the period, instead of the almost 65% drop.

Sales revenues were A$977 million, a drop of 17% compared with the previous corresponding period as a result of lower oil prices and 4% reduction in production volumes.

Woodside said higher oil production from the Legendre oil field helped to offset the natural decline of the Laminaria Phase 1 wells. The start-up of significant additional oil production from Laminaria Phase 2 on 10 June made only a limited contribution to the first half results but will have a major impact in the second half.

Suspension of operations at BHP Billiton's DRI plant in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and a scheduled maintenance shutdown of LNG Train 1 on the North West Shelf resulted in lower gas production during the period. The timing of crude and condensate cargo liftings at the end of the reporting period resulted in a temporary increase in product inventories which is expected to normalise in the second half.

Shareholders would still be rewarded with healthy dividends however. A total interim dividend of 21 cents per share fully franked will be paid on 5 September 2002 to all shareholders registered at 27 August. The dividend consists of an interim dividend of 16 cents per share fully franked and a special dividend of 5 cents per share fully franked.

Production from all facilities is expected to be higher in the second half following successful completion of planned shutdowns of North West Shelf LNG Train 1, Legendre and Laminaria facilities, the latter for the Phase 2 completion activities.

The construction of LNG Train 4 is 41% complete, Woodside said.

Looking overseas, Woodside said construction of the Ohanet gas liquids project in Algeria in which Woodside has a 15% interest is 77% complete, on budget and schedule with production expected in fourth quarter 2003.

It also drew attention to the Mauritanian drilling program which is currently underway.