News: STO Australia's Santos cuts debt as board to consider dividend

July 19 (Reuters) - Australian oil and gas producer Santos Ltd (STO) said on Thursday it has cut net debt by 4 percent since the start of the second quarter, helped by higher oil prices.

Second quarter production fell 3.4 percent from a year ago to 14.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), said Santos, which which in May rejected what would have been the world's biggest private equity oil and gas buyout deal.

The company said its board would consider a dividend declaration in August, which would be the first declaration since early 2016, reflecting a policy adopted late last month to target a payout of between 10 percent and 30 percent of annual free cash flow as ordinary dividends.