Past year: ▲ 35%(6.17 – 8.62 AUD)
Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
19 Dec 2018drilling result● Neutral
Sirius Road 1, the third Mahalo vertical well, reached 506 m with 6.9 m net coal; the Castor seam was 3.3 m as expected but Pollux was only 0.9 m, thinner than predicted. Rig moves to Sirius Road 2. Santos holds 30% as exploration operator.
18 Dec 2018well test result● Neutral
Memooloo 2 production testing, running three weeks since 23 November, shows rising water rates with minimal pressure draw down, which Comet Ridge calls encouraging at this early stage. No gas rate is reported. Santos holds 30% as exploration operator.
10 Dec 2018drilling result▲ Good
Struan 3, the first dual lateral well in the Mahalo block, was drilled with 822 m and 1,512 m laterals (88% and 95% in seam) intersecting Struan 2. The rig moves to Sirius Road 1. Santos holds 30% as exploration operator.
4 Dec 2018drilling scheduled▲ GoodMajor
Carnarvon says the Noble Tom Prosser rig is secured for two firm Dorado appraisal wells, the first around April 2019. Santos is shown as 80% operator and Carnarvon 20% of WA-437-P. Carnarvon hopes for a development decision ideally in 2020.
3 Dec 2018farm in farm out agreement▲ Good
Melbana, Total and Santos amended their WA-488-P deal to speed up Beehive-1 well planning for a possible Q3 2020 spud, with Total and Santos funding the work. Further seismic processing is dropped; final data is due early February 2019, and the 6-month option window runs from its receipt.
3 Dec 2018production update▲ Good
Santos announced first gas from the third and final Bayu Undan infill well, with the project delivered about 40% under budget and over three months early. The drilling rig is now contracted for Santos' 2019 program, including Dorado appraisal. Santos holds 11.5%.
27 Nov 2018asset acquisition disposition● Neutral
Wesfarmers confirmed completion of its 13.2% Quadrant sale to Santos for about US$170m net, plus a Dorado contingent value right and Bedout Basin royalty. Counterparty-side confirmation of the Quadrant completion Santos announced the same day.
27 Nov 2018asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
Santos completed the Quadrant acquisition, paying US$1.93bn (the US$2.15bn price less adjustments and cash acquired), funded from cash and US$1.2bn of new debt. Year-end gearing is now expected at about 33%, versus the earlier target of under 30% by end-2019.
20 Nov 2018drilling progress report● Neutral
Struan 2 reached 510 m and Struan 3, the first Mahalo dual lateral, spudded 17 November and was drilling at 537 m. Memooloo 2 has been completed and is being readied for production testing. Santos holds 30% as exploration operator.
19 Nov 2018investor presentation● Neutral
Oil Search's PNG investor field trip deck repeats known facts: PNG LNG ran at record ~9.2 mtpa in September after the February earthquake, and 7.5 mtpa is contracted. Santos holds 13.5% of the project. Nothing new for Santos is shown in the readable text.
16 Nov 2018asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
Santos says the ACCC clearance satisfies the condition for completing its US$2.15bn Quadrant acquisition, with completion expected within weeks. This removes the main outstanding approval hurdle for the deal announced on 22 August.
16 Nov 2018regulatory community update▲ Good
The ACCC decided not to oppose Santos' acquisition of Quadrant, finding it unlikely to substantially lessen competition in WA domestic gas. This clears the regulatory approval needed for the US$2.15bn deal announced in August.
12 Nov 2018drilling spud● Neutral
Struan 2, the second Mahalo well, spudded on 9 November and was coring at 395 m, with a planned depth of about 550 m. Struan 3, the first dual lateral well, will intersect it. Santos holds 30% as exploration operator.
5 Nov 2018drilling result▲ Good
Memooloo 2 was drilled to 300 m, intersecting 7.2 m of net coal with good to excellent permeability on short wireline tests, in line with expectations. Production testing of about two months follows; the rig moves to Struan 2. Santos holds 30% as exploration operator.
31 Oct 2018farm in farm out agreement▲ GoodMajor
Santos finished seismic (1,337 line km) in the Southern Amadeus farmout and elected to drill Dukas in EP112 (expected Q1 2019) to earn 70% there, with Central carried. It stays at 40% in EP82, EP105 and EP106. Resolves the earlier open question on lifting its stake.
29 Oct 2018drilling spud● Neutral
Comet Ridge says Memooloo 2, first of the five-well Mahalo program, spudded on 28 October, a day or so ahead of the expected week of 29 October. It targets coals at about 157 m, to a planned depth of about 290 m. Santos holds 30% as exploration operator.
15 Oct 2018material agreement▲ Good
Real Energy signed binding agreements with Santos and Beach for Moomba gas processing and Mount Howitt tie-in for its Windorah project. They follow the May 2017 MOU and remain conditional on approvals and a final investment decision. Small step for Santos as infrastructure provider.
12 Oct 2018drilling scheduled● Neutral
Comet Ridge expects to spud the next Mahalo evaluation wells the week of 29 October, with the rig arriving the week of 22 October. Struan 3 will be the first dual lateral well. Santos holds 30% as exploration operator. This pushes spud later than the mid-to-late September earlier expected.
26 Sept 2018investor presentation▲ GoodMajor
At its Investor Day Santos targeted production above 100 mmboe by 2025, almost double current levels. Growth is to come from Barossa backfill (FID targeted end-2019), PNG LNG expansion and P'nyang farm-in, onshore Australian growth and the Quadrant acquisition.
11 Sept 2018farm in farm out agreement● Neutral
Kina and Santos amended the PPL 339 farmout: Santos' 20% will now be acquired in two steps, 17.11% first and 2.89% during the first well, with Santos paying A$825,000 for the second piece. Still needs government approvals and a licence extension.
7 Sept 2018asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
Santos completed the sale of its producing Asian assets (Indonesia Sampang and Madura, Vietnam 12W) to Ophir, receiving US$144m cash from the US$221m price after adjustments. Net debt was about US$2.2bn at 31 August; the US$2bn target is expected by October. Some exploration assets still await approvals.
4 Sept 2018regulatory community update▲ Good
Melbana says the regulator suspended the current permit-year work deadline for WA-488-P to 21 December 2020. The Beehive 3D survey is complete. Total and/or Santos can still take 80% by drilling; Melbana keeps 20%, carried. Beehive best estimate prospective resource is 388 mmboe.
23 Aug 2018half year report▲ GoodMajor
Half-year report: sales revenue US$1,680m (up 16%), underlying profit US$217m (up 99%), net profit US$104m versus a US$506m loss. Net debt US$2.4bn. An interim dividend of US3.5c was declared, the first since 2016. Production fell 5% on the PNG earthquake outage.
23 Aug 2018joint venture update▲ Good
Carnarvon, Quadrant's partner in the Phoenix Project (Dorado), welcomes Santos as incoming partner. It cites Dorado 2C contingent oil of 171 million barrels. Carnarvon notes Santos did not say how much of the US$2.15bn relates to Phoenix.
23 Aug 2018dividend declaration▲ GoodMajor
Santos announced a fully franked US3.5c interim dividend, payable 27 September, its first since 2016, as underlying profit doubled to US$217m. It says the net debt target will be reached shortly, over a year early. Resolves the June dividend-restoration thread.
22 Aug 2018asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
Santos agreed to buy 100% of Quadrant Energy for US$2.15bn plus possible Bedout Basin (Dorado) contingent payments and a royalty. It adds 220 mmboe of 2P reserves (~26%) and 19 mmboe production, with US$30-50m annual synergies. Completion expected by end-2018, subject to approvals.
22 Aug 2018asset acquisition disposition● Neutral
Wesfarmers agreed to sell its 13.2% indirect stake in Quadrant to Santos for about US$170m net, plus a contingent right tied to the Dorado discovery and a Bedout Basin royalty. This is one of the sellers in Santos' Quadrant purchase; ACCC approval is needed.
17 Aug 2018material agreement▲ Good
PNG LNG partners signed a mid-term LNG deal with BP Singapore: about 0.45 mtpa for three years, rising to about 0.9 mtpa in the last two. Total contracted volume rises to 7.5 mtpa, building on the PetroChina deal. Santos holds 13.5%.
15 Aug 2018contract award▲ Good
Comet Ridge signed Silver City Drilling to drill a five-well program at Mahalo, where Santos holds 30%. Spud is expected mid-to-late September, finishing by November/December 2018. Follows the September drilling plan flagged in June; Comet says it is funded for its share.
13 Aug 2018drilling scheduled▲ Good
A fourth rig, Ensign 965, started in the Cooper Basin and will drill eight wells by year-end. Santos can now drill almost 90 Cooper wells in 2018, the most since 2014. It remains on track to supply about 70 PJ of east coast gas.
