Woodside delivered a better-than-expected $527 million annual net profit -- a big turnaround from 2002's $92 million loss which was caused by accounting adjustments.
However, underlying profit was down 19.9 per cent because of lower sales volumes and a $241 negative effect caused by the rising Australian dollar.
Woodside, which is 34 per cent owned by Shell, will also hunt for oil and gas in Algeria, the Canary Islands, Libya, Kenya and Sierra Leone.
