August 21 (Reuters) - Australian oil and gas explorer Santos (STO.AX) , opens new tab posted an 18% drop in its first-half profit on Wednesday, hurt by weaker realized prices and a decline in production and sales volume amid poor demand from top consumer China.

Geopolitical tensions, including Red Sea LNG trade disruptions and Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, are driving price volatility, while a slowing recovery in China is hurting demand.

Sales volume for the half year was 46.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), down from 47.1 mmboe a year earlier.

The country's second-largest independent gas producer reported underlying profit of $654 million for the six months ended June 30, down from $801 million last year. That compares to a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $694.5 million.

It declared an interim dividend of 13 cents per share, compared to 8.7 cents a year earlier.

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/australias-santos-posts-18-drop-first-half-profit-2024-08-20/