By David Winning

SYDNEY--Santos Ltd. said it has completed the purchase of ConocoPhillips's assets in northern Australia for a reduced upfront purchase price of US$1.265 billion.

Santos has acquired the U.S. company's operations in northern Australia and East Timor, including a controlling stake in the Darwin liquefied-natural-gas export project. It had originally agreed to pay US$1.39 billion upfront for the assets.

Santos said Thursday the restructured deal involves a contingent payment US$200 million that will be due when the company makes a final investment decision on its Barossa natural-gas project, up from US$75 million when the transaction was originally agreed.

"At completion, the net settlement amount was US$655 million, lower than the previously forecast amount of US$800 million," Santos said in a regulatory filing.

The purchase price at completion was fully funded from cash and US$750 million of new two-year acquisition debt, Santos said. 



  Write to David Winning at david.winning@wsj.com