Santos said higher oil production and sales largely offset sharply lower oil prices and a record cool summer in Australia.
Oil production increased by 17 per cent to 3.1 million barrels, mainly because of the start of production from the Legendre oil field off the coast of Western Australia in May 2001. Gas sales fell 1.7% to 50.8 petajoules.
Some in the market have even begun speculating that Novus could be in Santos' sights as a takeover target. Observers point to Novus' exploration upside and portfolio diversity, which they believe is missing in Santos.
Yesterday, Novus shares were up 9 cents on rumours of a bid in waiting as well as potential drilling success at its Murdoch Deep target in the Padre Island fields off the Texan Coast.
