By Digifin Pty Ltd · About this coverage
Key Points
- Record quarterly production of 26.3 mmboe
- Free cash flow from operations of ~$1,069 million
- 2026 production guidance narrowed to 99 to 102 mmboe
- Pikka production to be held around 70,000 barrels per day for a short period
- Papua LNG interest to rise to 21 per cent, subject to approvals and FID
About Santos (ASX:STO)
Santos Limited is an ASX-listed oil and gas company headquartered in Adelaide. It produces liquefied natural gas, pipeline gas, crude oil and condensate from operations in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Alaska, including the Cooper Basin, Darwin LNG and the Barossa gas project, and holds an interest in PNG LNG. It reports in United States dollars and operates the Moomba carbon capture and storage project in South Australia.
Santos (ASX:STO)' third-quarter report records its highest quarterly production as Barossa achieved steady production and Pikka came online, but narrows full-year production guidance after setbacks at Pikka.
Figures are in US dollars. Production was 26.3 mmboe, up almost 14 per cent on the prior quarter and 23 per cent on the prior corresponding period, with sales volumes of 26.4 mmboe. Sales revenue was ~$2,006 million, up 49 per cent on the prior quarter. Free cash flow from operations was ~$1,069 million and free cash flow ~$957 million. Darwin LNG operated at 98.5 per cent reliability. Pikka reached instantaneous rates above 80,000 barrels of oil per day (gross) and was producing 69,000 at quarter end after two curtailments, one from a weather event affecting the Seawater Treatment Plant and one from a Kuparuk pipeline shut-in after a road accident. Production will be held at around 70,000 barrels per day for a short period while water injection replenishes reservoir voidage. 2026 production guidance is narrowed to 99 to 102 mmboe from 99 to 105 mmboe, and sales volume guidance to 102 to 105 mmboe, while capital expenditure guidance of ~$1.95 to $2.15 billion is unchanged. Santos signed a binding agreement to lift its Papua LNG interest by 3.3 per cent to 21 per cent (post State back-in).
The Papua LNG acquisition is conditional on regulatory approvals and FID, planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. The Greater Meridian acquisition awaits regulatory approvals, and the Western LNG Heads of Agreement is non-binding.
Source: Santos Limited (ASX:STO), 22 October 2026. Summary content supplied by Digifin Pty Ltd.
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