Santos, one of Australia’s largest oil and gas companies, reported a 13 per cent drop in first-quarter sales revenue as production slowed and fossil fuel prices retreated from record highs hit last year due to the historic global energy crisis.
Adelaide-based Santos said on Thursday it had generated sales of $1.6 billion ($2.4 billion) in the three months to March 31, while production slipped to 22.2 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Prices for Australian LNG cargoes in Asia have fallen from record levels after a relatively warm northern winter.
Credit: Associated Press
Production results were slightly below most analysts’ expectations, but revenue was in line.
Santos managing director Kevin Gallagher said the company continued to perform strongly in the face of mounting “regulatory and economic uncertainty”. Santos and other East Coast gas producers are under increasing pressure from a series of government measures to rein in soaring energy costs, including rules limiting domestic gas sales to $12 per gigajoule for 12 months, and Reforms that give the government the ability to transfer exports more often to the domestic market to prevent potential shortages.
Earlier this week, the Albanese government said Weighing whether to tax soaring gas industry profits Pass reform of the $2 billion annual Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT).
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“The disciplined operating model we employ enables us to deliver on our strategy,” Gallagher said.
The country’s $91 billion liquefied natural gas industry has posted record profits over the past year as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled global energy markets, intensified competition for spare cargoes of oil and gas and ignited prices.
Prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipped out of Western Australia and Queensland have hit record highs over the past two years, but are now seeing healthy stocks and mild weather in the northern hemisphere keep households from boosting their demand. The heater is being lowered.
