The Australian LNG player said in a statement that the debt facility is now fully repaid and the associated loan security is in the process of being discharged and released.
According to Santos, this has resulted in its share of the final scheduled June 2026 repayment (A$363 million) being made in December 2025.
The early and final repayment reduces future interest costs and removes restricted cash requirements on the balance sheet.
Santos said it also provides further flexibility to its existing strong liquidity position (cash and undrawn committed facilities) of approximately $4 billion.
In addition, the weighted average debt maturity is now approximately five years.
Santos now has zero scheduled debt maturities in 2026, enhancing balance-sheet flexibility ahead of new cash flows expected from its major development projects, Barossa LNG and Pikka Phase 1. The next scheduled debt maturity is due in September 2027.
ExxonMobil holds a 33.2 percent operating interest in the $19 billion PNG LNG project, while Santos has a 39.9 percent stake following the completion of a 2.6 percent stake sale to Papua New Guinea’s national oil and gas company Kumul, which now owns a 19.4 percent stake.
Other partners in PNG LNG include Mineral Resources Development Company and JX Nippon.
Papua LNG FID
Santos managing director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said the early repayment, completed six months ahead of schedule, is a “historic” milestone for Santos and its joint venture partners, including Kumul and MRDC.
“The ability to secure high-quality, long-term project finance made the development of PNG LNG possible, a nation-building project for Papua New Guinea, that has delivered strong and sustained performance since operations commenced in 2014,” he said.
“As we advance towards a final investment decision for Papua LNG, we expect a significant portion of associated costs to be funded through project finance, leveraging the proven performance of both the PNG LNG project and PNG LNG project financing facility whilst being supported by export credit agencies and commercial banks,” said Gallagher.
In August, Gallagher said that France’s TotalEnergies and its partners plan to take a final investment decision on the Papua LNG export project in Papua New Guinea in the first quarter of 2026.
TotalEnergies has a 37.55 percent operating stake in the Papua LNG project, ExxonMobil has 37.04 percent, Santos owns a 22.83 percent interest, and JX Nippon holds 2.58 percent.
The project calls for the design of about 4 mtpa of liquefaction capacity adjacent to the existing PNG LNG processing facilities.
Also, the project includes the use of 2 mtpa of liquefaction capacity in the existing trains of PNG LNG.
