Santos of Australia announced record sales revenue of $1.1 billion for the fourth quarter of 2013. The record result was driven by the company’s highest oil production in six years, strong oil prices and higher third party sales volumes.
Total sales revenue for 2013 of $3.6 billion was also a record and 12% higher than 2012. Fourth quarter production of 13.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) was in line with the corresponding period and 2% lower than the third quarter of 2013.
Gas production of 53.2 petajoules (PJ) (9.1 mmboe) was 6% lower than the corresponding period, with higher production from the Carnarvon Basin offset by lower production in the Cooper Basin and Asia. The average gas price of $5.53/GJ for the December quarter was 10% higher than the corresponding quarter, driven by higher gas prices in Western Australia and Indonesia, and higher LNG prices from Darwin LNG.
Key activities during the period
Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer David Knox said that the last quarter of 2013 saw the company continue to make strong progress in the delivery of its major projects, underpinning its strategy to expose its resources to Asian markets.
“ In the second half of 2014 the first of these projects, PNG LNG, is on track to commence LNG shipments to Asia, delivering a significant boost in production and cashflow for the company. We are very pleased with the progress being made on the project, with commissioning of the upstream and LNG plant facilities well underway .”
“ The GLNG project remains on track for first LNG in 2015, and we are confident that this year will see the project achieve a number of major milestones. ”
“ The estimated capital cost for both the PNG LNG and GLNG projects is unchanged. ”
“ Last year we continued to increase our understanding of our shale resources in the Cooper Basin, with the Moomba-194 and 191 wells delivering encouraging results. The proximity of these resources to existing infrastructure provides us with a real advantage, and our exploration efforts will continue in 2014. ”
“ For Santos, 2014 will also see the company continue to build and strengthen its base business here in Australia, while exploring opportunities for focused growth in Asia ,” Knox said.
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LNG World News Staff, January 23, 2014; Image: Santos