By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 17 -- Santos Ltd. agreed to buy Delhi Petroleum Pty. Ltd. for $474 million (Aus.) in equity and debt. The acquisition is part of the Adelaide-based firm's efforts to increase its stake in oil and gas fields in the Cooper basin.
The transaction will increase Santos's interest in the Cooper basin joint venture to 85% from 63% and add 67 MMboe of proved and probable reserves as of Dec. 31, 2005.
Santos already planned to spend $160 million to drill 100 wells in the Cooper and Eromanga basins. After more than 40 years since its first gas discovery in the Cooper basin, Santo announced it would spend another $900 million in a $1.3 billion program to renew its reserve base (OGJ, June 26, 2006, p. 51).