Santos Expects 2013 Oil, Gas Output to Rise

Australian energy company Santos expects to increase its oil and gas production to between 53 million-57 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2013, around 4 percent more than it expects to produce this year, Reuters reported citing a company statement.

Capital spending in 2013 is forecast to rise to A$4 billion from an expected A$3.5 billion this year as it hits peak spending on its Gladstone liquefied natural gas project, costs rise at its partner ExxonMobil's LNG project in Papua New Guinea and it expands infrastructure in the Cooper Basin.

Santos played down the threat of competition from North American gas suppliers, in contrast to a recent report by Societe Generale saying that Australian LNG project expansions would be hard to justify at current costs, Reuters said. Santos said by 2025 there would be an LNG supply gap of 140 million tonnes a year that would need to be filled in the Asia Pacific region even with North American supply flowing across the Pacific.