SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                              WASHINGTON, DC 20549


                                -----------------


                                 SCHEDULE 14D-9
                                 (RULE 14D-101)

          SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT UNDER SECTION 14(D)(4)
                     OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


                            Esenjay Exploration, Inc.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                            (Name of Subject Company)


                            Esenjay Exploration, Inc.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                      (Name of Person(s) Filing Statement)


                       Class A common stock, per value .01
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                         (Title of Class of Securities)


                                    296426109
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                      (CUSIP Number of Class of Securities)


                             David B. Christofferson
              Senior Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel
                       500 North Water Street, Suite 1100
                           Corpus Christi, Texas 78741
                                 (361) 883-7464
     -----------------------------------------------------------------------
       (Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person Authorized to Receive
     Notices and Communications on Behalf of the Person(s) Filing Statement)

[X]   Check the box if the filing relates solely to preliminary communications
       made before the commencement of a tender offer.




                                     ESENJAY
                               EXPLORATION, INC.


- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           NEWS RELEASE NUMBER     02 - 01


                               CONTACT:  Esenjay Exploration, Inc.
                                         Investor and Media Relations
                                         c/o Shimmerlik Corporate Communications
                                         Warren Shimmerlik
                                         (212) 247-5200
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            ESENJAY EXPLORATION, INC.
                   ENTERS INTO ACQUISITON TRANSACTION WITH
                    SANTOS AMERICAS AND EUROPE CORPORATION
          Board of Directors Votes to Accept and Support Transaction

HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 18, 2002 - Esenjay Exploration, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESNJ) today
announced that Santos Americas and Europe Corporation ("Santos") and Esenjay
have entered into an agreement providing for Santos' acquisition of the entire
outstanding equity interest in Esenjay by means of a tender offer for all of
Esenjay's outstanding common shares at a price of US$2.84 per share in cash and
a follow-on merger at the same price. Under the terms agreed, Santos expects to
initiate a formal offer within the next several days after all required
regulatory filings have been completed. Once commenced, the offer will remain
open for at least 20 business days.

Santos is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the ultimate parent entity, Santos Ltd.
(NASDAQ: STOSY; ASX: STO), an Australian listed company. The Santos Ltd. group
is Australia's largest onshore natural gas producer and has interests in the
United States and South East Asia. As at the end of December 2001, the Santos
Ltd. group had total assets of more than A$5 billion and over 1,700 employees.

The Santos offer is conditioned on the receipt of at least a majority of
Esenjay's outstanding shares. If Santos receives at least a majority of
Esenjay's outstanding shares, it will acquire all remaining outstanding Esenjay
shares through a subsequent merger, the timing of which would be announced at a
later date. Esenjay shareholders who do not participate in the tender offer
would also receive $2.84 per share in cash in the merger. As of March 1, 2000
Esenjay had 19,121,598 shares outstanding. It also had outstanding options and
warrants, which would be in the money at $2.84 per share, to purchase an
additional 2,537,169 Esenjay common shares.

At a meeting held on Saturday, March 16, 2002, Esenjay's board of directors
voted to accept and support the Santos tender offer and voted to recommend that
Esenjay shareholders accept the cash tender offer and approve the merger. In
addition, as a condition to the offer, Esenjay's two major shareholders and the
Chairman of the board of directors have agreed to tender all of the shares owned
by them (representing 9,991,662 shares or 52% of Esenjay's total outstanding
shares) in the Santos tender offer and have granted Santos the option to acquire
all of their shares if the tender offer is not consummated for certain reasons.

In voting to accept and support the Santos tender offer, Esenjay's board of
directors considered a number of factors, including the following. Esenjay has
historically been forced to constrain capital spending and to sell larger than
desired interests in its



properties in order to fund its capital program, which has resulted in lower
than expected reserve growth. As part of the Company's evaluation of strategic
alternatives, a process initially undertaken in late 2000, the board recognized
that its inability to access sufficient capital at an acceptable cost would be
an ongoing impediment to the Company's ability to fully exploit its sizable
asset base. The Company and its financial advisors do not anticipate a
meaningful improvement in the access to affordable capital in the foreseeable
future and that the substantial reserve potential that Esenjay believes exists
in its prospect inventory may be difficult to realize. With this in mind, and
after revisiting strategic alternatives and potential transactions available to
the Company in the current marketplace, the board believes that the Santos
transaction will provide Esenjay shareholders the best opportunity to realize
value.

As part of the decision to accept and support the Santos tender offer, Esenjay's
board of directors engaged Hibernia Southcoast Capital, Inc. to evaluate the
offer. This investment banking firm indicated its belief that the offer
represents a fair price, based on the estimated current value of Esenjay's
proven reserves and prospect inventory.

Esenjay anticipates releasing its year-end 2001 natural gas and oil reserves
later this week and releasing fourth quarter and full year financial results on
or before March 31, 2002. This additional information should aid shareholders in
making an informed decision regarding the tender offer.

Texas based Esenjay Exploration, Inc. is a natural gas oriented exploration
company targeting under-drilled deeper formations in onshore gulf coast basins.
Utilizing mostly proprietary 3-D seismic data, the Company has built a sizable
inventory of high potential exploration prospects in the deep Frio and Wilcox
trends, as well as in the shallower Yegua and Hackberry trends.

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE INCLUDES A SUMMARY OF THE
PROPOSED TRANSACTION WITH SANTOS BUT IS NOT COMPLETE. ESENJAY WILL FILE WITH THE
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION CERTAIN SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION MATERIALS
RELATING TO THE OFFER THAT ARE MORE COMPLETE. THOSE FILINGS CONTAIN IMPORTANT
INFORMATION THAT ESENJAY SHAREHOLDERS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO READ IN THEIR
ENTIRETY. ESENJAY SHAREHOLDERS CAN GET THIS ADDITIONAL
SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION INFORMATION AND OTHER DOCUMENTS REGARDING ESENJAY
AND THE OFFER AT NO COST AT THE WEBSITE OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION (WWW.SEC.GOV) AND MAY OBTAIN FREE COPIES OF THESE DOCUMENTS FROM
ESENJAY. THE COMPANY'S WEBSITE IS WWW.ESENJAY.COM. FOR OTHER INFORMATION,
CONTACT ESENJAY AT IRINFO@ESENJAY.COM OR BY CALLING THE COMPANY AT 713-739-7100.

 [CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION]

Certain statements contained herein that set forth management's intentions,
plans, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking
statements. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, normal
risks associated with closing of acquisition transactions, potential delays in
timing, regulatory uncertainties, as well as general industry and market
conditions. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual
results to vary materially is contained in Esenjay's periodic filings with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), all of which may be obtained by
contacting Esenjay or the SEC.