The joint venture, which also includes Woodside, Kufpec and Nippon Oil, was forced to completely shut down the project in early February when the subsea pumps became inoperable due to electrical damage on Christmas Eve.

Up until the shutdown, Mutineer-Exeter had been producing oil at a lowered rate of 4000-5000 barrels per day - about one tenth of its usual output.

In a statement on Thursday, Santos said output was expected to resume at between 20,000-22,000bpd.

A workover program is due to begin at the project in the second quarter of 2008 to further boost field production.

As operator, Santos holds a 33.4% stake in Mutineer-Exeter, while Kufpec also has 33.4%, Nippon Oil has 25% and Woodside has 8.2%.