Oil and gas producer Santos has lifted production nine per cent to its highest level in seven years, thanks to the ramp-up of the massive PNG LNG project.
Santos produced 14 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) during the three months to September 30, up from 12.8 mmboe in the June quarter.
Its sales revenue was also up nine per cent to $1.06 billion for the quarter, from $974 million in the June quarter. sales revenue was up 16 per cent on the first nine months of 2013, the company said on Friday.
It attributed the increase in production to the PNG LNG project, which shipped its first cargo in May.
Santos owns 13.5 per cent of PNG LNG, while US-based oil and gas giant operator Exxon Mobil owns 33 per cent and Oil Search owns 29 per cent.
The oil and gas producer re-affirmed its full year target for production of 52-57 mmboe.
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It also said work on its GLNG project in Queensland was 90 per cent complete, with production due to start in 2015.
In other mining news, global resources company BHP Billiton has caved in to shareholder demands to list its yet-to-be-named $US15 billion spin-off in London.
BHP says it will now seek a London listing for the new company, in addition to a planned primary listing in Australia and a secondary listing in South Africa.
“We are pleased to offer an additional listing in London in response to the interest investors have shown in the new company,” chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said in a statement on Friday.
The global resources giant announced plans in August to spin off most of its aluminium, coal, manganese, nickel and silver assets into the new company.
The mining giant had planned to list the company only in Australia and South Africa but faced pressure from UK investors who could have been forced to sell their stock in “NewCo”.
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BHP Billiton is listed in Australia and London so not listing the new company in the UK would have made it difficult for some investors.
Mackenzie said the company was working towards completing the merger in the first half of the 2015 calendar year.
OZMinerals
The head of gold and copper miner OZ Minerals is stepping down more than six weeks before his replacement joins the company.
Terry Burgess is ending his five years as chief executive on Friday, and will assist OZ Minerals on a voluntary basis until his successor, Rio Tinto executive Andrew Cole, begins on December 3.
In the interim, OZ Minerals’ chief financial officer Andrew Coles will be the company’s acting chief executive.
Mr Cole, whose appointment as CEO was announced in September, has spent more than two decades with Rio Tinto, most recently as chief operating officer of the company’s iron and titanium division in Canada.
Mr Burgess will receive a termination payout equivalent to 12 months of fixed remuneration, which is about $1 million.
