David Knox
Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed oil and gas major Santos has reported its highest oil production in six years for the fourth quarter ended December, helping to drive record sales revenue of A$1.1-billion.
Fourth-quarter production of 13.1-million barrels of oil equivalent was 2% lower than the third quarter of the 2013 financial year. Gas production was 6% lower at 9.1-million barrels of oil equivalent, while quarterly crude oil production was up 5% to 3-million barrels.
Santos said that the higher oil production was driven by higher output from the Fletcher Finucane and Chim Sao fields.
MD and CEO David Knox said on Thursday 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 the Asian markets.
“In the second half of 2014, the first of these projects, Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (LNG), is on track to start LNG shipments to Asia, delivering a significant boost in production and cash flow for the company.”
Knox pointed out that the Gladstone LNG project also remained on track for first LNG in 2015, with Santos confident that 2014 would see the project achieve a number of major milestone.
“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.”
For 2014, Santos was expected to produce between 52-million and 57-million barrels of oil equivalent, with estimated capital expenditure capped at A$3.5-billion.