SYDNEY, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Australian oil and gas giant Santos has edged ahead of its guidance in its fourth quarter report released Friday, with production and sales volumes reaching record levels.

Kevin Gallagher, chief executive officer at Santos, said the company has "generated free cash flow for the first time in many years," while implementing a new organizational structure to boost results.

Santos was able to pay down some of their net debt, currently sitting at 3.5 billion U.S. dollars, down from 4.7 billion U.S. dollars at the start of 2016; which Santos says was achieved through a number of factors including their asset sales for 2016 which topped 441 million U.S. dollars.

"We enter 2017 with a clear strategy and a solid platform off which we can build and grow," Gallagher said.

"Our business turnaround will continue as we reshape and focus our organization to support five core, long-life natural gas assets: Cooper Basin, GLNG, PNG, Northern Australia and WA Gas."

Santos will detail its profit when it delivers its full-year report in February, 2017.