Santos reports 2009 production in line with guidance
- 2009 production of 54.4 mmboe was within the company’s guidance range of 53 to 56 mmboe.
- December quarter production of 13.9 mmboe was 2% higher than the December 2008 quarter and in line with the September 2009 quarter.
- Gas production from the Oyong Phase 2 project in Indonesia commenced during the quarter.
Sales revenue impacted by lower international oil prices
- 2009 sales revenue of $2,181 million was 21% lower than 2008 primarily due to lower international oil prices.
- December quarter average realised oil price of A$85.37 per barrel was 5% lower than a year earlier.
- December quarter average portfolio gas price of $3.99 per gigajoule was 16% lower than the corresponding period primarily due to lower prices for oil price linked gas sales contracts.
Key activities during the period
- Approval of the Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (PNG LNG) project marking the next step in Santos’ transformational LNG growth strategy. Santos has a 13.5% interest in the 6.6 million tonne per annum project. Approval of PNG LNG commercialises 218 mmboe of contingent resources to reserves.
- Gas production commenced from the Oyong Phase 2 project in Indonesia in early October and reached plateau production of 60 mmscfd gross within 20 days.
- Celebrations to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first delivery of natural gas from the Moomba processing plant in the Cooper Basin. Since production commenced in 1969, six trillion cubic feet of gas has been supplied to the domestic market from the Cooper Basin.
Santos Chief Executive Officer David Knox said the company had delivered production in line with guidance in 2009.
“The base business delivered a solid production performance with new production from Oyong in Indonesia and strong production from John Brookes.”
“The approval of PNG LNG in the quarter was a significant step forward in the company’s growth strategy. PNG LNG alone will transform Santos’ earnings quality when it comes on line in 2014.”
“By 2015, Santos’ goal is to have production from Darwin LNG, PNG LNG, GLNG® and be constructing Bonaparte LNG. This will represent a transformation of the company into a leading Australian and Asian energy company”, Mr Knox said.
