Santos' production fell, but LNG projects are on schedule

Start-up of the Australian company's flagship LNG projects may give it the boost it is looking for

Investors dumped Santos shares on 21 February after the Australian company revealed  production fell, costs rose and profits were flat in 2013. Santos, unsurprisingly, preferred to dwell on better news that its plans for two major liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects are on schedule and close to budget. The 2013 results were certainly a mixed bag. Santos' production fell 2% in 2013 to 51 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). But  it saw a 12% rise in revenue to A$3.602bn ($3.2bn) as a result of higher oil and gas prices; the average realised price per barrel of oil was A$121, up from A$113 in 2012. These contributed to a 6% year-on-year increase in operating profit  to A$886m, while net p