Australia’s Santos reported a record sales revenue in the first quarter of this year on the back of high LNG prices and strong production.
The independent LNG producer said on Thursday that stronger commodity prices and higher sales volumes had delivered quarterly sales revenue of $1.92 billion, up 25 percent compared to the prior quarter and 99 percent year-on-year.
In addition, the firm reported a record quarterly production of 26 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), including the Oil Search assets.
Santos and PNG-focused Oil Search completed their merger deal in December.
Strong production combined with higher commodity prices also delivered record quarterly free cash flow of $865 million, an increase of 186 percent from the corresponding period last year, Santos said.
The Australian LNG player said its average realized LNG price of $13.77 per MMBtu in the first quarter increased when compared to $13.64 per MMBtu in the prior quarter.
It rose more than two times from $6.12 per MMBtu the firm logged in the first quarter of last year.
The higher average realized LNG price reflects the linkage of sales contracts to an improving lagged Japan Customs-cleared Crude (JCC) price and higher JKM spot prices, it said.
As per LNG deliveries, the company’s LNG projects shipped 60 cargoes in the first quarter, of which Santos sold 13 cargoes at JKM spot prices.