SYDNEY, June 30, 2026, 04:04 AEST
- Woodside Energy Group Ltd ASX:WDS rose 1.16% to A$27.97 on Monday and closed at the day’s high, but volume of 4.36 million shares was about 23% below Google’s listed average volume.
- The stock is still down 2.8% from June 22 and 8.8% from May 29, based on daily closing prices.
- Brent crude was up 1.64% at $73.17 a barrel late Monday after falling 10.6% last week.
- Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 were 96% complete at the end of the first quarter, with first LNG cargo still targeted for Q4 2026.
Woodside Energy Group Ltd ASX:WDS enters Tuesday before the Sydney open with a better last price than its recent tape. The stock closed at A$27.97 on Monday, up 1.16%, after trading between A$27.51 and A$27.97. The ASX cash market’s normal trading window runs from about 09:59:45 to 16:00 Sydney time, so the next live local test is the open.
The catch is volume. Only 4.36 million shares changed hands, against Google’s listed average volume of 5.65 million. That makes the rally look more like a low-volume repair trade than a full return of oil-linked buying.
Daily prices show the damage is still fresh:
| Date | Close (A$) | Day move | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 29 | 27.970 | +1.16% | 4.36 mln |
| Jun 26 | 27.650 | +0.80% | 4.79 mln |
| Jun 25 | 27.430 | -2.87% | 8.33 mln |
| Jun 24 | 28.240 | -1.43% | 6.23 mln |
| Jun 23 | 28.650 | -0.42% | 4.26 mln |
| Jun 22 | 28.770 | -0.90% | 4.03 mln |
From June 22 to June 29, WDS lost 2.8%. From the May 29 close of A$30.66, it lost 8.8%. The two-session bounce from the June 25 low close recovered A$0.54, after a A$1.60 fall from June 19 to June 25.
Oil gave Woodside some help after the ASX shut. Brent was up $1.18, or 1.64%, at $73.17 a barrel at 1735 GMT Monday, Reuters reported. But the same report said Brent had fallen 10.6% last week, and Gelber & Associates put outbound Persian Gulf crude exports at at least 75% of pre-war levels. Bob Yawger, Mizuho’s director of energy futures, told Reuters “not every barrel is going to come out the Gulf in the next week or two.” Reuters
That is the trade-off for WDS. A higher oil price lifts near-term sentiment, but any sign that Gulf supply is normalising caps the price. Jefferies’ Mohit Kumar told Reuters markets could take “some relief in the lower oil prices,” a comment that helps explain why the broader equity market can like cheaper crude even when producers do not. Peter Andersen of Andersen Capital Management said he expected a “holding pattern through the rest of this week.” Reuters
Monday’s comparison shows WDS beat its sector, but not by enough to erase the oil sell-off:
| Market read | Monday/latest move | Why it matters for WDS |
|---|---|---|
| Woodside Energy Group Ltd ASX:WDS | +1.16% | Closed at high; volume below average |
| Santos Ltd ASX:STO | +0.14% | WDS led the local oil peer |
| S&P/ASX 200 | +0.68% | Broad market support helped |
| ASX Energy sector | +0.69% | Sector only matched the market |
| Brent crude | +1.64% | Oil bounce came after a sharp weekly fall |
The ASX 200 closed 59.2 points higher at 8,823.4, with the energy sector up 0.69%. Woodside outpaced that move by about 0.47 percentage point. The sector’s small edge over the index says the market did not pay up hard for oil beta.
For WDS holders, the oil path now sits against a heavy project calendar. Woodside kept 2026 production guidance at 172-186 million barrels of oil equivalent and capital expenditure guidance at $4.0 billion to $4.5 billion, with all dollar references in the report in U.S. currency unless stated otherwise.
Woodside CEO Liz Westcott said Scarborough was “on target for first LNG cargo in the fourth quarter of 2026.” The first-quarter report also said the company achieved an average realised price of $63 per barrel of oil equivalent, up 11% from the fourth quarter, and that later LNG quarters should benefit from lagged contract pricing. Woodside
| Woodside project or guidepost | Latest company status | Investor read |
|---|---|---|
| Scarborough / Pluto Train 2 | 96% complete; first LNG targeted Q4 2026 | Near-term growth trigger |
| Trion | 56% complete; first oil targeted 2028 | Later oil growth, still capital-heavy |
| Louisiana LNG | Foundation phase 24% complete; Train 1 at 31% | Long-dated LNG exposure |
| 2026 capex | $4.0 bln-$4.5 bln | Cash flow sensitivity to oil and LNG prices |
| Gas hub exposure | About 30% for 2026-2028 | More spot-linked upside and downside |
The operational offset is reliability. Woodside said Sangomar, Shenzi, North West Shelf and Pluto LNG all delivered reliability at or above 99% in the first quarter. Pluto LNG posted 100% reliability for the third straight quarter, according to the company report.
At Monday’s close, Google listed Woodside’s market value at A$53.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, and a 52-week range of A$21.96 to A$35.82. That leaves WDS 21.9% below the 52-week high and 27.4% above the low.
