Santos forecasts 2024 output at top end of forecast, Pikka first oil production may start early
Reqrites throughout with further details, analyst quote in paragraphs 5 and 6 and share movement in paragraph 7
Santos expects FY24 production at top en of outlook
Pikka on progress, could start production 6-mnths earlier
Shares up as much as 1.4%
By Sneha Kumar, Echha Jain
Oct 17 (Reuters) -Australia's second-largest oil and gas producer Santos STO.AX estimated its full-year production to be at the top half of its forecast range on Thursday, and said its Pikka project could start oil production as early as 2025.
The company expects to report full-year production in the top end of the forecast range of 84 -90 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), with 65.6 mmboe achieved year-to-date.
The Adelaide-based company said its drilling program for the Pikka phase one project in Alaska is progressing well and could start oil production as early as December 2025. But for now, they are maintaining the first production outlook in mid-2026.
Additionally, the company now expects development capital for Pikka phase one to increase by about 20%.
"The 20% capex increase is marginally higher than our expectations, and while we believe consensus also has higher capex, we suspect 20% may be more than it anticipated," Jarden said in a note.
"The potential for acceleration is positive but we will need to wait until March or April to know whether this is achievable."
Shares of the company rose as much as 1.4% in early trade before paring some gains to be up 0.3% at 0020 GMT.
Santos — which is also a potential buyout target after merger talks with larger rival Woodside Energy WDS.AX to create a $52 billion global LNG company fell through — posted a 3% sequential drop in its quarterly sales revenue to $1.27 billion, missing a Visible Alpha estimate of $1.32 billion.
The oil and gas giant attributed the fall in revenue to lower crude oil, condensate and liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes, partly offset by higher realised prices for LNG and domestic gas.
Domestic sales of gas and ethane production decreased during the quarter, mainly due to planned maintenance activities, Santos said.
Santos' Moomba carbon capture and storage project in South Australia is now online, it said, while its flagship Barossa Gas project in offshore Australia is on track for production in the third quarter of 2025.
Reporting by Sneha Kumar, Echha Jain and Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Alan Barona
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