It produced 56 million barrels of oil equivalent - up by 19% on 2004. The company said 2006 production would grow to between 60 and 61 million boe.

Santos also reported sales revenue of $2.46 billion for 2005 - a 64% increase on the 2004 result of $1.5 billion.

In its 2006 exploration program, 17 of the 25 wildcat wells will be drilled outside Australia, according to Santos.

This includes eight wells in the company’s core Indonesian area, two in its emerging Timor-Bonaparte region, and seven in new areas of interest such as Egypt (three wells) and the shallow water Gulf of Mexico, USA (four wells).

In Australia, two wells will be drilled in the Carnarvon Basin offshore Western Australia, one in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, two in the Otway Basin and three in the onshore Cooper Basin.

Materiality is weighted towards the third and fourth quarters of 2006, which will see drilling of the Lynedoch and Evans Shoal South prospects in the Timor-Bonaparte, as well as exploration wells in the Kutei and East Java basins in offshore Indonesia.

“This 2006 program takes Santos another step towards its stated policy of building a more globally-focused exploration effort as a key plank in our overall growth strategy,” managing director, John Ellice-Flint said.

“Oil is the main target for the Kutei and East Java exploration wells, which represent the next potentially high volume opportunities in the company’s Indonesia strategy.

“In the Timor-Bonaparte, the Lynedoch and Evans Shoal South prospects hold significant LNG potential and provide us with the opportunity to build on the Caldita gas discovery made in the same area late last year."

Ellice-Flint said these “big-impact” wells were supported by several high-value gas and oil prospects.

Last year, Santos added more than 35,000 square kilometres of new acreage into its exploration portfolio. This included increasing its acreage position in Australia and the US and acquired exploration acreage in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan) and Egypt, it said.