$50-60 New Normal or U.S Shale Bubble?, page-780

Yes, costs escalated with the rising oil price and subsequently fell rapidly also.
If the price of oil rises then a lot of the gains will be consumed by drilling cost inflation to maintain reserves and yes exploration carries risk. Santos needs to find a lot more gas to fill GLNG and needs rising oil prices to support that development.
The size of Santos is a hedge against failed exploration, it caps both the risks and returns.
Overall the industry is on a hiding to nothing long term with both global warming and rising development costs, they should have really already taken serious action.
When you are talking about a billion U.S. in CAPEX (and all the other stupid decisions they have taken) then a few $ million in solar panels is a real joke/slap in the face for shareholders and their communities.
They spend more on corporate bullshit like the ridiculous "I support gas" petition.
Still despite all that, I believe gains in the oil price will more than cover for increased drilling costs and support a much higher valuation for the company than the market is presently presuming based on low drilling costs and relatively low (still) oil prices.
There has been no structural decrease in oil and gas development costs, the arguments in this report fully align with those I have been making for the last two years or so.