据8月2日伍德麦肯兹官网报道，Oil Search和桑托斯（Santos）已经就拟议的合并比例方面达成一致。
伍德麦肯兹研究主管安德鲁·哈伍德表示，“巴布亚新几内亚的利益重叠，强化的金融平台和进一步的投资组合协同和优化的潜力，为合并提供了强有力的战略依据。与Oil Search合并后，桑托斯的产量将立即增加三分之一以上，达到约29万桶/日。到2025年左右，Oil Search投资组合的影响将变得更加明显，届时将贡献超过一半的总产量增长。按照目前的大宗商品价格，合并后的实体将在2021年和2022年产生可观的自由现金流。更强劲的资产负债表将为投资澳大利亚和巴布亚新几内亚的新开发项目提供坚实的平台。”
哈伍德补充道，“在更大的投资组合中进行资本重新配置，或进行战略性撤资，很可能会使未来的资本外流趋于平缓。合并后的公司将能够继续在澳大利亚Dorado油田和阿拉斯加州进行现有的资产开发。我们一直期待看到更多的国际勘探和生产整合，跟随美国独立公司的脚步，在规模上寻求实力和韧性。桑托斯与Oil Search的合并遵循了整合模式，将两家利益重叠的公司合并在一起，以战略资源为主题(如LNG)扩大规模，并为两家股东提供额外的增值潜力。”
他指出，“对于澳大利亚的勘探开发领域来说，这可能不是我们今年看到的最后一笔变革性交易，有传言称，必和必拓的石油业务和伍德赛德正在讨论类似的合作。这笔潜在交易的细节尚不清楚，但可以肯定的是，能源转型将继续推动油气行业的整合，这不仅对相关公司有长期影响，对澳大利亚的油气投资前景也有影响。"
王佳晶 摘译自 伍德麦肯兹官网
原文如下：
Oil Search and Santos align="justify"> Oil Search and Santos have reached agreement align="justify"> "Overlapping interests in PNG, a strengthened financial platform and the potential for further portfolio synergies and optimisation provide strong strategic rationale for the merger.
"Combining with Oil Search would immediately increase Santos' production by over align="justify"> "At current commodity prices, the combined entity will generate significant free cash flow through 2021 and 2022. A stronger balance sheet will then provide a solid platform from which to invest in new development projects in Australia and PNG.
"Capital reallocation within a larger portfolio, or strategic divestments would be likely to smooth out future outflows. The merged company will be able to proceed with existing farm-down processes at Dorado and Alaska from a position of strength.
"We’ve been expecting to see more consolidation among international E&Ps, following the lead of the US independents that have sought strength and resilience in scale. The Santos - Oil Search merger follows the consolidation template, bringing together two firms with overlapping interests, building scale in a strategic resource theme, LNG in this case, and align="justify"> "For Australia’s E&P landscape, this might not be the last transformative deal we see this year, with BHP’s Petroleum business and Woodside strongly rumoured to be in discussion on a similar match-up. The details of that potential deal remain unclear, but what is certain is that the energy transition will continue to drive consolidation within the oil and gas space, with long-term implications for not only the companies involved, but also Australia’s oil and gas investment outlook."