Santos, the Australian oil and gas company, reported an 11% rise in third-quarter sales due to a boost in production.

Revenue rose to $650 million from $585 million a year ago, Adelaide-based Santos said in a statement Friday. The company switched to reporting in U.S. dollars at its interim results in August. Production increased to 15.5 MMboe from 14.5 MMboe in the corresponding period of 2015.

Forecast capital expenditure for 2016 has been trimmed to $700 million from $750 million previously. The producer narrowed its 2016 production guidance to a range of 60 MMboe to 62 MMboe from the previous band of 57 MMboe to 63 MMboe. It will also start an oil hedging program “to reduce the effect of commodity price volatility and support annual capital expenditure plans.”

Santos is among companies grappling with a slump in energy prices amid a surge in LNG supply. The International Energy Agency says an oversupply in natural gas won’t disappear until the end of the decade as LNG capacity jumps 45% through 2021 with 90% of that supply due to come from Australia and the U.S.

The company’s main assets include a 13.5% stake in Exxon Mobil Corp.’s $19-billion LNG venture in Papua New Guinea and a 30% stake in the $18.5-billion Gladstone LNG project‘>project in Australia, which it said produced 1.3 million tons of LNG in the quarter.

Source: www.worldoil.com