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