Australia's Santos narrowed its annual output forecast for a second time on Thursday due to a technical issue delaying the ramp-up of its key Barossa oil and gas project, as well as a slow recovery from floods at its Cooper Basin oil and gas project.
The country's second-largest gas producer now expects to produce 89 to 91 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in fiscal 2025, compared with 90-95 mmboe previously forecast.
"Software issues affecting the safety systems onboard the BW Opal FPSO resulted in an unplanned shutdown of around two weeks during September, impacting the ramp-up of the Barossa project," Managing Director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said in a statement.
The Barossa project, co-owned by Santos along with South Korean energy company SK ES and Japan's JERA, remains on track to ship its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo in the December quarter.
Santos had narrowed its full-year production forecast in the previous quarter to reflect flood-related operational disruptions at Cooper Basin.
Recovery effects at Cooper Basin have run into the fourth quarter, the firm said, adding that 155 wells were still offline due to flood water levels receding slower than expected.
Gallagher had said the impact would not be material in the "big picture" after flooding submerged more than 200 wells in Cooper Basin in May, with the production recovery expected to pick up in the second half of the year.
Santos, which had received an $18.7 billion bid from a consortium led by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in June, reported an 11 per cent fall in sales revenue to $1.13 billion for its third quarter ended September 30, missing Visible Alpha's estimate of $1.18 billion.
The Adelaide-based company also narrowed its annual sales volume forecast to 93 to 95 mmboe from 92 to 99 mmboe previously expected.
Shares of Santos rose as much as 1.4 per cent to A$6.42 and were set for their best day since September 25, if current gains held.
(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri and Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Subhranshu Sahu)
