Australian Santos Raises A$1.2bn from Share Sale

Australian producer Santos has raised A$1.24bn (US$0.95bn) in a share sale as part of its plan to reduce debt, it said February 6. The amount raised from retail shareholders was A$201mn while the remaining amount was raised under the institutional placement completed in December 2016.

Successful eligible retail applicants will be issued new shares at A$3.94/share. New shares are expected to be issued on February 7.

Santos has also been looking to sell its non-core assets to reduce debt to become “a low-cost, reliable and high performance business.” It plans to focus on five core, long-life natural gas assets: Cooper Basin, Gladstone LNG project, Papua New Guinea projects, assets in northern Australia and Western Australia gas resources. 

The Australian major reported a strong performance in the 4Q of 2016 as well as the full year with impressive production and sales numbers.

The company produced 61.6mn barrels of oil equivalent in 2016, within the revised full-year guidance of 60 to 62mn boe, while sales rose to 84.1mn boe, ahead of the 81-83mn boe target range. 

Shardul Sharma