text: In the US, two exploration wells 
  are planned, one onshore, and 
  one offshore in the shallow 
  waters of the Gulf of Mexico. 
  
  The Minerva gas field off 
  Victoria's western coast started 
  production in December 2004 
  and is ramping up to full field 
  production of around 150 TJ 
  per day. Our share in this project 
  is 10%, and is significant because 
  it represents our first foray 
  into marketing gas directly to 
  customers or into the Victorian 
  spot market through our sales 
  vehicle, Santos Direct, aimed 
  at delivering higher prices. 
  
  **PRODUCTION TO REBOUND**
  While we expected lower 
  production overall in 2004, our 
  output was obviously curtailed 
  further by the incident at the 
  Moomba plant. The good news 
  is that several projects emerged 
  from the development pipeline 
  during the year and made positive 
  contributions to our expanding 
  suite of oil and gas facilities. 
  **RECORD EXPLORATION**
  **EFFORT AHEAD**
  Exploration is a great way to 
  increase shareholder value so 
  I am pleased to be able to report 
  that in 2004, Santos drilled 16 
  wildcat wells resulting in seven 
  hydrocarbon discoveries. 