Santos reaffirms FY production guidance

Santos (STO) has reaffirmed its guidance for fiscal 2014 after posting record sales revenue in fiscal 2013, despite a slight fall in production.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, Santos said it still expected its 2014 production to be 52-57 million barrels of oil (mmboe) equivalent.

The group said it had achieved a record $1.1 billion in sales revenue for the three months ending December 2013, a 21% rise on the $877 million sales in the previous corresponding period.

"The record result was driven by the company’s highest oil production in six years, strong oil prices and higher third party sales volumes," Santos said.

Total sales revenue for fiscal 2013 was also a record $3.6 billion and was 12% higher than the previous year.

However, the group said production was down for the 2013 financial year, at 50 mmboe, compared to the 51 mmboe it posted in 2012.

The result is in line with the guidance it announced on December 4 2013, which it had downgraded to from the 52 to 55 million barrels of oil equivalent that it expected to achieve in October 2013.

Santos said gas production had fallen six% to 9.1 mmboe in the December 2013 quarter compared to the December 2012 quarter, as a result of lower production in the Cooper Basin and Asia.

Meanwhile, the average gas price of $5.53 gigajoules was 10% higher in the quarter compared to the previous corresponding period, led by higher prices in Western Australia and Indonesia, and higher LNG prices from Darwin LNG.