Stock Research

Santos (ASX: STO) (NASDAQ: STOSY) today announced that a record 122 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) of proven (1P) reserves were added through exploration, appraisal, revisions and acquisitions in the year ended 31 December 2005.

After allowing for production of 56 mmboe, 1P reserves increased by 66 mmboe to 414 mmboe, up from 348 mmboe at the end of 2004.

For the fourth consecutive year, 1P reserves replacement exceeded total group production.

The 2005 1P reserves replacement ratio from all sources was 218%, and the three year average increased to 165%.

After backing-out the impact of acquisitions and divestments, Santos' 2005 1P organic reserve replacement ratio was 123%, and the three year average was 121%.

Proven plus probable (2P) reserves also rose sharply, with the addition of 187 mmboe in this category. After allowing for production, 2P reserves rose by 131 mmboe to 774 mmboe, up from 643 mmboe a year earlier.

As a result of Santos' major development focus over several years, the proportion of developed reserves has steadily increased, with 77% of 1P reserves now in the developed category.

Major impacts by area across the portfolio, reported as changes in ultimate recovery for producing fields, are described below.

Cooper Basin

Revisions to both oil and gas reserves in existing Cooper Basin fields added 16.8 mmboe of 1P reserves. In the 2P category, negative revisions in gas reserves of 4.6 mmboe were offset by increases in oil reserves of 4.9 mmboe. The acquisition of Basin Oil from OMV Petroleum Pty Ltd resulted in an increase of 2.1 mmboe of 1P and 4.9 mmboe of 2P reserves in the South Australian Cooper Basin.

Eastern Queensland

Reserves were booked at the Fairview coal seam gas (CSG) field following the acquisition of Tipperary Corporation in October 2005. Year end bookings of 49.6 mmboe of 1P and 142.6 mmboe of 2P reserves were recorded based on an independent estimate undertaken by Netherland Sewell and Associates. Also in eastern Queensland, revisions to existing fields added some 4.1 mmboe of 1P and 4.4 mmboe of 2P reserves.

Southern Australia

In the Otway Basin, successful appraisal of the Casino field resulted in the addition of 6.0 mmboe of 1P reserves. The discovery of the nearby Henry field resulted in the addition of 5.4 mmboe of 1P and 11.1 mmboe of 2P reserves. Also in the Otway Basin, the acquisition of the OMV Petroleum Pty Ltd and Trinity Gas Resource's interests in the Patricia-Baleen field added 2.6 mmboe of 1P and 4.3 mmboe of 2P reserves.

Carnarvon Basin

At the John Brookes field, successful development and appraisal activity resulted in an increase of 25.5 mmboe of 1P and 10.4 mmboe of 2P reserves. At Mutineer-Exeter, positive reservoir performance and appraisal resulted in an increase of 7.1 mmboe of 1P and 4.3 mmboe of 2P reserves. A positive revision was recorded at Legendre/Thevenard of 1.8 mmboe of 1P and 1.5 mmboe of 2P reserves. At East Spar, the remaining reserves of 1.4 mmboe of 1P and 4.0 mmboe of 2P reserves were written-off following the watering out of the field.

Indonesia

Minor adds to the Maleo and Kakap fields of 1.0 mmboe of 1P and 1.2 mmboe of 2P in aggregate were offset by reduced reserves at Oyong of 2.6 mmboe of 1P and 3.5 mmboe of 2P following development drilling. The 10% government back-in to the Maleo field resulted in the divestment of 1.0 mmboe of 1P and 3.0 mmboe of 2P reserves.

Contingent Resources

Santos' contingent resources (discovered but currently sub-commercial or technically immature hydrocarbon resources) were 1,971 mmboe at the end of the year, an increase of 528 mmboe (37%) relative to the previous year.

This significant increase is largely due to the booking of additional CSG resources at Fairview and in the Roma area, together with exploration success in Caldita in the Timor/Bonaparte and Hiu Aman in offshore Indonesia.

The tables below show the breakdown of reserves as at 31 December 2005.

PROVEN PLUS PROBABLE RESERVES (SANTOS SHARE) AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2005 BY ACTIVITY
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Sales gas    Crude oil Condensate   LPG    Total
                                (incl. ethane) mmbbl     mmbbl       '000   mmboe
                                    PJ                              tonnes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reserves year end 2004                2873         74         49        3523   643
Production                             197         15          4         307    56
Additions                               68          0          0           0    12
Acquisitions/Divestments               863          0          0          40   149
Revisions                               61         17         -1         -61    26
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated reserves year end 2005      3667         76         43        3195   774
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PROVEN PLUS PROBABLE RESERVES (SANTOS SHARE) AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2005 BY AREA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Sales gas    Crude oil   Condensate  LPG    Total
           Area                 (incl. ethane) mmbbl       mmbbl      '000   mmboe
                                     PJ                               tonnes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cooper Basin                          933         25          12        1559   210
Onshore Northern Territory            135          2           1           0    26
Offshore Northern Territory           322          1          25        1439    91
Eastern Queensland                   1088          0           0          20   188
Southern Australia                    359          0           2         176    65
Carnarvon Australia                   589         44           3           0   148
PNG                                     0          1           0           0     1
Indonesia                             210          3           0           0    39
USA                                    30          0           1           0     6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                3667         76          43        3195   774
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESERVES (SANTOS SHARE) AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2005
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          (mmboe)       Year End Production Revisions Additions Acq / Div Year End
                          2004                                              2005
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1P Reserves                348      56          63        6         53       414
2P Reserves                643      56          26       12        149       774
Best Estimate Resources   1443       0          44      401         83      1971
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Average conversion factors:
Crude oil 1 barrel = 1 boe
Sales gas 1 petajoule = 171,937 boe
Condensate 1 barrel = 0.935 boe
LPG 1 tonne = 8.458 boe
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About SANTOS LIMITED:
Gas and petroleum exploration and the production, treatment and marketing of natural gas, crude oil, condensate, naphtha and liquid petroleum gas; transportation by pipeline of crude oil.

Contact:

 
Kevin Skinner
Senior Consultant
FIELD PUBLIC RELATIONS
 
231 South Road
MILE END  SA  5031
Tel:   (08) 8234 9555
Fax:  (08) 8234 9566
Mob: 0414 822 631
kevin@fieldpr.com.au 

Source:
SANTOS LIMITED

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