NEW YORK, March 24, 2026, 17:11 EDT
Woodside Energy Group’s U.S.-listed shares rose $0.61 to $24.34 on Tuesday, while the company’s primary ASX listing finished earlier down A$0.06 at A$34.73 after trading between A$32.93 and A$34.73. 1
The move matters because the energy backdrop tightened again after the Sydney close. Brent settled up 4.55% at $104.49 a barrel as disruption to flows through the Strait of Hormuz persisted, and QatarEnergy declared force majeure — a clause that lets suppliers suspend deliveries when events are outside their control — on some long-term LNG contracts. 2
A local peer added to the squeeze. Santos said on Tuesday it had temporarily shut Darwin LNG, interrupting exports from the Barossa chain, and its shares fell 2.6%. Australia is one of the world’s largest LNG exporters and a critical supplier to Asian buyers. 3
Investors are still focused on execution at Woodside after the board last week made Liz Westcott chief executive. RBC analyst Gordon Ramsay called her a “low-risk appointment,” and Westcott said 2026 is a “big year of delivery” as Woodside works to finish the $18 billion Scarborough gas project, sell a 20% stake in the $17.5 billion Louisiana LNG project and advance Trion toward 2028. 4
That U.S. project sits at the center of Woodside’s North American expansion. Westcott said Louisiana LNG was a “key priority” in the next few months, and the company is seeking additional investors to take a stake. 5
Oil analysts do not see the premium fading quickly. Nikos Tzabouras of Tradu.com said “the reality on the ground is unchanged,” while Kenny Zhu of Global X warned that temporary shipping disruptions risk turning into longer supply dislocations if hostilities drag on. 2
But the trade can reverse hard. Brent slumped 10.9% on Monday after Donald Trump said he would delay strikes on Iranian power plants and cited progress in talks with Tehran, and Goldman Sachs said any end to U.S. military action could quickly erode the risk premium. 6
Woodside also goes into 2026 with a softer operating backdrop than the share move suggests. In January the company flagged lower output because of heavy maintenance at Pluto LNG and the timing of new volumes from Scarborough. Scarborough was 94% complete at year-end and remains targeted for first LNG in the fourth quarter of 2026. 7
