Sydney (Platts)--5Dec2012/503 am EST/1003 GMT

Exploration and production company Santos will cut 100 jobs at its Adelaide head office and Moomba oil and gas processing facility in the state of South Australia, the company said Tuesday.

The redundancies are aimed at improving the efficiency of the company's eastern Australia business unit "as it prepares for a period of transition and growth in its Cooper Basin operations," Santos said. The cuts will be made in the first quarter of 2013.

"This decision was made as part of a broader program to ensure the eastern Australia business remains cost-competitive and is best placed to grow going forward," said Santos Vice President Eastern Australia James Baulderstone. "In order to execute an ongoing successful natural gas development program in the Cooper Basin, we need to ensure that our practices are efficient, and our business model is a competitive one."

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Baulderstone said Santos was "absolutely committed" to South Australia. "In fact, we plan to invest A$2.5 billion over the next five years in South Australia alone," he added. "These changes are necessary if Santos is to continue to be a competitive, global company that can benefit the local community."

Santos' eastern Australia business unit includes its exploration, production, development and commercialization activities in the Cooper Basin in South Australia and neighboring Queensland, plus New South Wales and offshore Victoria. The company's workforce in South Australia numbers more than 1,600, out of an Australia-wide staff of more than 3,200 people.

--Christine Forster, christine_forster@platts.com --Edited by Deepa Vijiyasingam, deepa_vijiyasingam@platts.com

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