Energy Stocks Are Cheap: Australian E&Ps Ideally Placed to Emerge From Coronavirus Meltdown

Santos is the second-largest Australian pure oil and gas exploration and production company (behind Woodside Petroleum, ASX:WPL), with interests in all Australian hydrocarbon provinces, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Reliance on declining Cooper Basin assets and years of exploration inactivity saw Santos come under production pressure late in the past decade. Stronger energy prices supported earnings, while high-risk exploration under past management disappointed. Well-timed East Australian coal seam gas purchases and subsequent partial sell-downs bolstered the balance sheet and set the scene for liquid natural gas, or LNG, exports. Santos is now one of Australia's largest coal seam gas producers and continues to prove additional reserves. It is the country's largest domestic gas supplier.