Santos Company Secretary James Baulderstone said the company is aware of conjecture of Woodside’s potential interest in Santos but denies the companies have discussed such a proposal.

“Santos has not been approached by, nor is aware of any potential interest of, Woodside Petroleum other than media speculation,” Mr Baulderstone said.

Mr Baulderstone offered that Santos’ share price change and increased volume of securities may be explained by “the announcement...by the BG Group of a significant LNG sales contract being executed with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation.”

Santos issued the response after receiving a price query over its jump in trade interest from the manager of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Article continues below…

Article continues below…

Santos’ assets include the Gladstone LNG Project joint venture, located in Queensland, a stake in the Papua New Guinea (PNG) LNG Project and a number of CSG projects in the Surat and Bowen basins in Queensland, the Cooper Basin in South Australia and the Gunnedah Basin in New South Wales.