"Santos advises that, whilst it does not generally comment on press speculation, the company has not made a bid and not negotiated with ChevronTexaco for their PNG assets," said company spokesman, Graeme Bethune.
The Australian Financial Review article, titled 'Santos in line to buy PNG assets', said ChevronTexaco has called for tenders for its 19% stake in the Kutubu and Gobe oil fields and 11% stake in an associated gas project that will form the basis the of the PNG-to-Australian pipeline project.
The report said ChevronTexaco would like to concentrate its focus on commercialising the giant Gorgon gas field off Dampier. Last month, the oil giant released for public comment its plan to process gas on the environmentally-sensitive Barrow Island.
In other Santos news, the company said it has discovered a leak from its Moonie-to-Brisbane pipeline that resulted in 7,000 barrels of oil spilling into a paddock near the Lytton Terminal, which is located 15km east of Brisbane.
Santos said it is currently trying to stop the leak, clean-up the oil and to repair the pipeline. The company added relevant government authorities have been notified.
