Australia's Santos reports lower Q2 revenue
Australian oil and gas company Santos reported a 1.5% year/year drop in sales revenue for the April-June quarter (Q2), primarily due to lower LNG prices. The company's Q2 revenue was $1.31bn, down from $1.33bn in the same period last year. Sales revenue also declined by 6.4% quarter/quarter.
Sales volume for the quarter was 23.2 mmboe, slightly down from 23.3 mmboe last year. Production in Q2 was 22.2 mmboe, compared to 22.8 mmboe in the same period last year. The average realised LNG price was $11.47/mmBtu, down from $11.96/mmBtu last year.
In terms of major projects, the Barossa gas project has reached 77% completion. The gas export pipeline pipelaying has been completed, and the third well of the six-well drill programme was spudded in May. All 16 modules have been installed onto the FPSO, and construction activities for the Darwin Pipeline Duplication have commenced.
Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher expressed satisfaction with the progress, stating, "Our major projects continue to deliver to plan. I am very pleased that both the Barossa pipelaying activities and the installation of the modules onto the FPSO in Singapore are now complete, and other activities are on track for offshore commissioning to commence in the first quarter of 2025."
Despite previous legal challenges and litigations related to the project's drilling and pipeline plans, a recent Australian court decision allowed Santos to proceed with the pipeline project, removing a major hurdle and paving the way for the long-anticipated gas project.
The Moomba phase one carbon capture and storage (CCS) project is 92% complete and achieved mechanical completion on July 6. The project is in its final commissioning phase, with well tie-ins currently in progress. An initial study has been completed on CCS pipelines for Moomba CCS phase two.
"Our Moomba CCS project is now mechanically complete and is on track to ramp up the injection of Cooper basin gas plant CO2 throughout the second half of 2024. Work continues on phase two activities with a focus on opportunities for Santos to provide carbon management services to customers and third parties, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors," Gallagher commented.
Recent media reports suggest that Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have been separately considering bids for Santos.