PERTH, June 21, 2026, 22:05 AWST
- Woodside ended Friday at A$29.03, up 1.43% for the session, but still off 7.0% for the week.
- Brent crude settled close to US$80.40 a barrel. It dropped about 8% this week with oil flows resuming through the Strait of Hormuz.
- Oil will probably drive Monday’s session. Woodside is set to release its next quarterly report on July 29.
Woodside Energy Group shares bounced on Friday yet closed out the week with a sharp drop. Weaker oil took out most of the takeover premium around Australia’s top LNG exporter. Shares moved between A$28.23 and A$29.26, ending at A$29.03. The S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.92%.
Woodside is falling again as traders use it as a liquid play on oil-supply risk. Brent dropped about 8% for the week, with tankers moving through Hormuz again and the Middle East export premium shrinking.
Santos fell 9.5% for the week. Ampol dropped 9.0%. Woodside finished down but managed to outperform those two energy peers. The ASX 200 rose 0.3%, leaving Woodside trailing the index by a wide margin.
Woodside shares whipsawed after deal chatter. The company said Monday it hasn’t received any proposal and isn’t in discussions with Exxon Mobil, responding to a report that Exxon is weighing a move. Woodside’s U.S. shares surged 8.35% Friday, but the Australian listing dropped as oil prices slid. Trading showed oil prices had the bigger impact than takeover talk.
Browse is still Woodside’s main project issue. The company triggered its pre-emption right to buy PetroChina’s 10.67% stake in the gas fields, which would take Woodside’s ownership to 41.27% if it goes through. UBS energy analyst Tom Allen called the price “materially softer” versus what PetroChina paid to get in back in 2012. Reuters
Oil traders on Monday are looking to see if smoother tanker traffic will weigh on prices, or if Iran’s controls keep a risk premium on supply. The number of commercial crossings jumped last week but traffic is still well under what it was before the conflict. Mines and stricter permits still slow things down. “The market was pricing in a deal and pretty seamless execution,” said Rory Johnston, founder of Commodity Context. That hasn’t happened yet. Reuters
Woodside has no operating report on the schedule this week, so crude prices and geopolitical news are setting the tone. For now, investors are watching for developments on Scarborough, the Louisiana LNG stake sale, and the Trion oil project. CEO Liz Westcott summed up the outlook back in March: “But we know 2026 is a big year of delivery.” Reuters
But risks are still there. If Hormuz stays open and supply comes back, Brent could fall toward Citi’s targets of US$75 in Q3 and US$70 in Q4. That would hit the assumptions in Woodside’s earnings and cash-flow models. New fighting would push prices back up, but might also raise shipping, insurance, and project costs.
Friday gave Woodside a lift, but it wasn’t enough to change the picture. With oil still soft and no major news, the company starts the week trading as a play on oil, with its large project pipeline in focus and a 7% drop for the week still hanging over it.
