The quarter also saw a 9% rise in sales on the previous quarter, with revenue of $1.06 billion, up 16% from the first nine months of last year.

Santos CEO David Knox said its Gladstone LNG project was still on budget and on track to deliver first LNG next year.

The company shipped 23 LNG cargoes in the quarter, after PNG LNG production reached full capacity in late July.

The ramp-up also led to sales gas, ethane and gas to LNG production of 60.4 petajoules for the quarter, which was 9% higher than the corresponding quarter last year.

Total sales for these three elements jumped 37% to $483 million for the quarter.

PNG LNG had gross gas production of 92.3PJ (Santos share 12.5PJ) measured at the inlet of the LNG plant, with 2.56MMbbl gross condensate production measured at the Kutubu entry point.

Santos also completed drilling the eight Hides development wells in the quarter, with the Hides produced water disposal well also successfully cased and completed.

Work is underway to redefine the Hides reservoir model using the results from all its wells.

The Hides F1 (Hides Deep) exploration well was spudded earlier this month.

At GLNG, first gas was introduced into the gas transmission pipeline this week and the final GLNG train 2 module has been delivered to Curtis Island, with successful hydro-testing of the second LNG tank.

However, lower domestic gas nominations dropped gas production from GLNG. Gross average daily production from the Fairview field during the quarter was 79 terajoules per day.

“The field was produced to meet domestic nominations with the remaining production injected into storage,” Santos said.

The quarter also saw a significant gas-condensate discovery at Lasseter in the Browse Basin, first oil from its Dua project in Vietnam and the acquisition of exploration acreage offshore Malaysia and Vietnam.

In Malaysia, 3D seismic resulted in two significant drilling opportunities with the first well expected to spud in the 2014 fourth quarter.

Higher production at its Chim Sao project and the start-up of Dua combined with higher production in Western Australia to push quarterly crude oil production up 13% from the previous quarter, with 2.4MMbbl produced, fetching an average price of $115 per barrel, 10% lower than the corresponding quarter.

It was no surprise given lower oil prices and indeed lower realised oil prices partially offset higher sales volumes, Santos said, noting that total crude sales revenues of $470 million for the quarter were 3% lower than the previous quarter.

“Oil production was higher due to improved floating production, storage and offtake vessel operating efficiency and first production from the Dua field,” Santos noted.

“The first Dua well was brought online in July with the remaining two wells online by late September.

“Average gross oil production for the quarter from the combined Chim Sao and Dua fields was 25,511 barrels per day.”

The company’s net entitlement to oil production in Q3 was up 33% to 756,200bbl, with net entitlement gas production 0.6PJ.

The good news is that all 2014 guidance has been maintained, including production (52-57MMboe), production costs ($820-880 million), depreciation, depletion and amortisation expense ($18.50 per barrel of oil equivalent), royalty-related taxation expense after tax ($60 million) and capital expenditure including exploration and evaluation ($3.5 billion).

Condensate production from the Cooper Basin, its homeland, was up on Q3 last year, as it was in Amadeus, but was down at Bayu-Undan and Carnarvon.

Santos noted that the planned 35-day shutdown at Bayu-Undan and Darwin LNG was successfully completed at the end of the quarter, with production recommencing earlier this month.

“As a result of the planned shutdown, gross gas production of 33.8PJ was lower than Q3 2013,” Santos said.

It added that its net entitlement to production was 3PJ of gas, 137,700bbl of condensate and 7700 tonnes of LPG.

Nine LNG cargoes were shipped in the quarter.

“Work progressed on the Bayu-Undan phase 3 project during the quarter, with the first of two subsea development wells spudded and casing installed,” Santos said.

“The project is over 60% complete and on track for first gas in 2015.”

Natural field decline saw crude oil production in the Cooper Basin of 795,200bbl drop 2% from the previous quarter while drilling continued, with Caroowinnie-2 well and Cook-28 horizontal well successfully cased and suspended as future oil producers.

The Caroowinnie South-1 appraisal well was also successfully drilled, cased and suspended.

As for its unconventional assets in the Cooper, Moomba-193 in PPL 7 is in the process of being connected into Santos’ existing production infrastructure and will be the first horizontal REM shale well to be connected in the basin.

It is the third successful unconventional well to be connected after Moomba-191 (PPL 7) and Moomba-194 (PPL 113).

The company plans to fracture stimulate the Gaschnitz-4, Gaschnitz-3 and Gaschnitz-2 wells in Q2 2015.

Lower customer nominations and several large unplanned customer outages saw gas production down 27% at Carnarvon from Q3 2013, with 11.9PJ and 120,600bbl of condensate production.

Across to the Otway Basin and natural field decline at Casinon saw sales drop below what they were in Q3 2013.

Indonesia also saw lower net entitlement to gas production (6.1PJ) than the corresponding period, with new production from Peluang offset by lower production at Maleo and Oyong due to natural field decline.

“Combined Wortel and Oyong gross gas production for the quarter averaged 79TJ/day, with combined gross production from Maleo and Peluang averaged 86 TJ/day,” Santos said.

“Oyong oil production for the quarter was 39,800bbl.”

Meanwhile, higher production from the Scotia and Spring Gully fields saw sales rise above Q3 2013.