Kyrgyzstan

A Santos subsidiary, Santos International Operations Pty Ltd, holds a majority shareholding in three operating vehicles in Kyrgyzstan, South Petroleum Company (70%), Textonic (60%), and KNG Hydrocarbons (54%). These companies operate 14 prospecting licenses covering approximately 12000 sq km of the Fergana Basin.

Santos will sole fund and operate a phased work program over all of the licenses over a period of approximately five years (commencing September 2005) to earn the working interests. Three seismic crews are currently active with seismic acquisition supporting drilling scheduled for 2008.

The Fergana Basin covers an area of 63,000 square kilometres and has been producing hydrocarbons since the early 1900s. Cumulative discovered reserves from 58 fields in the basin are estimated to be in excess of 1.2 billion barrels of oil and 1.8 TCF of gas, with cumulative production to date of more than 600 million barrels.

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