Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (ASX:WPL) has denied industry rumors that it is seeking to sell it 33.4% stake in Sunrise LNG project. Industry sources speculated Woodside was preparing to exit its Sunrise stake and also another consortium partnerConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) with 30% stake was considering likewise. However, Peter Coleman, Chief Executive Officer of Woodside Petroleum, denied the Sunrise talk. ConocoPhillips also dismissed the industry chatter as having no validity. "Woodside is committed to developing the Sunrise resource. We're not considering divestment. Sunrise remains a very attractive investment option for us," he added.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. approved election of Frank Cooper and Sarah Ryan as Directors of the company.

The board of Woodside Petroleum Ltd. has declared a special dividend of $0.63 per share. The dividend will be paid on May 29, 2013 to all shareholders registered on the record date of 6 May 2013. The ex-dividend date for dividend entitlement will be April 30, 2013. The dividend will be fully franked for Australian taxation purposes.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. reported earnings and production results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013. For the period, the company reported total sales of $1,444.9 million compared with $1,196.9 million for the same period last year. Capital Expenditure was $196.8 million compared to $647.7 million for the same period last year. The company achieved first quarter production volumes of 21.9 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) in line with its 2013 production guidance. Production was 10% lower than the previous quarter, largely due to the Vincent FPSO being off station for planned shipyard maintenance, coupled with lower volumes from other oil assets predominantly due to an extreme cyclone season. Cyclonic activity accounted for almost half the decrease in oil production experienced in the quarter.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. announced return on equity for the year 2012. The company reported return on equity of 19.7% increased primarily due to the partial equity sale of Browse. Underlying return on equity was 13.6% (excludes Browse equity sale to Japan Australia LNG (MIMI)).