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Mining giant BHP said it would combine its oil and gas business with Woodside Petroleum.
'The merger of our petroleum assets with Woodside will create an organization with the scale, capability and expertise to meet global demand for key oil and gas resources the world will need over the energy transition,' the company said.
Under the deal, BHP shareholders would 48% of the combined entity, which is forecast to generate more than US$400 million in annual savings.
BHP also provided an update on first-half performance as it hiked its final dividend to a record after reporting a jump in first-half profit as revenue was boosted by rising output and commodity prices.
'On the back of these results, the board has announced a record final dividend of US$2.00 per share, bringing BHP's returns to shareholder to more than US$15 billion for the full year,' the company said.
For the six months ended 30 June, pre-tax profit rose to $24.6 billion from $13.51 billion.
The company attributed the results to 'strong underlying operational performance, with record volumes achieved at Western Australia Iron Ore, Goonyella and Olympic Dam, and Escondida maintained average concentrator throughput at record levels.'
BHP also said it proceed with stage one of its Jansen potash project in Canada, with production expected to get underway in 2027, with an initial capacity of 4.35 million metric tons per year.