Shares in Santos up after RI oil find

Shares in Santos up after RI oil find

SYDNEY: Shares in Australian oil producer Santos Ltd. rose on Friday after it reported the biggest oil strike in its 50-year history off Indonesia.

Santos said its Jeruk well, in waters about 42 kilometers off the Indonesian city of Surabaya, had exceeded initial expectations and would yield more 170 million barrels of oil, worth about A$5.3 billion (US$4.0 billion) at current prices.

"The results of Jeruk-2 are very encouraging, we are currently integrating all data into a final evaluation of the well which will help us narrow a likely reserve range for the field," Santos managing director John Ellice-Flint said.

The discovery eases Santos' reliance on diminishing oil reserves from Australia's Cooper Basin. -- AFP