Australia's Santos boosted by new LNG capacity

ADELAIDE , Australia, July 18 (UPI) -- Australian energy company Santos said Friday its second quarter figures improved in part because of the start of an LNG project in Papua New Guinea.

"Delivery of the PNG LNG project is an important milestone for Santos in our journey to becoming a major LNG supplier to Asia," Santos Chief Executive Officer David Knox said in a statement. "This project will significantly lift Santos' LNG production once the project reaches full output, and we are already seeing the contribution it is making."

The liquefied natural gas facility at Port Morseby can process 6.9 million tons of LNG per year. Santos said it has binding sales agreements with four Asian buyers and has shipped seven cargoes from the facility as of June.

The first shipment left the facility in May bound for Japan.

Santos said second quarter production of 12.8 million barrels of oil equivalent was 5 percent higher than first quarter and 3 percent higher year-on-year. Sales revenue for the second quarter was $974 million, a 22 percent increase from second quarter 2013.

Santos leads the $18.5 billion Gladstone LNG project on Curtis Island in Queensland, Australia.

"GLNG continues to make good progress, it remains on budget and we are on track to deliver first LNG in 2015," Knox said.