Australia's Santos reports 37% drop in H1 underlying profit

Australian oil and gas producer Santos on August 23 reported a 37% year/year drop in underlying profit in the first half of 2023 owing to lower realised oil and LNG prices.

The company booked an underlying profit, which strips off one-off items, of $801mn compared with $1.27bn in the previous year. The net profit was $790mn in the six months through June, down from $1.17bn a year ago.

Revenue came in at $3.05bn versus $3.84bn in the same period last year. Total revenue was down due to lower sales volumes and lower realised prices. The average realised oil price decreased 26% yr/yr to $85.75/b and the average realised LNG price decreased 7% yr/yr to $13.24/mn Btu.

Santos produced 45mn barrels of oil equivalent in the first half, down from 51.5mn boe a year earlier. Sales volumes dropped by 15% yr/yr to 47.1mn boe. "The lower volumes were primarily due to the temporary shutdown of the John Brookes platform, reduced capacity from the Reindeer and East Spar fields due to water breakthrough and Bayu-Undan approaching end-of-field life," it said.

The company has retained its full year production forecast of between 89mn boe and 93mn, down from 103.2mn produced last year. Sales volume guidance is also maintained in the range of 90mn boe and 100mn boe.