Nevertheless JB Were has kept Woodside as a preferred stock for long-term exposure to the energy sector. Another brokerage house, Euroz Securities, said spending on the fourth LNG train will make it tough for Woodside in the short term, however its long term prospects were good.

Woodside is also finding itself under pressure of a different sort. A recent study by Macquarie University found Woodside employees experienced bullying at twice the rate of Australia's best practice companies. Workplace bullying costs the Australian economy between $6 billion and $36 billion, according to government statistics.

In Woodside's case, a company official said the result was due in part to a program implemented by the company, which focused on 'values in the workplace'. "One of the results of that was people were much more prepared to identify unacceptable behaviour as bullying," he said. "We took the lid off people's reluctance to talk about it. That's one of the explanations we are prepared to accept."

Takeover talk featuring Woodside among others like Orogen, Novus, Origin and Tap, has again resurfaced in the market, which believes Shell is expected to make another tilt at the Perth-based company. Another likely suitor could be BHP Petroleum.