8-K

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549





                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT



                     Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

                         Securities Exchange Act of 1934

        Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): April 22, 2002



                            ESENJAY EXPLORATION, INC.
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)




         DELAWARE                    0-80243                   73-1421000
 (STATE OF INCORPORATION)     (COMMISSION FILE NUMBER)       (IRS EMPLOYER
                                                           IDENTIFICATION NO.)



                      500 NORTH WATER STREET, SUITE 1100 S.
                           CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS 78471
                    (ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICES)

                                 (361) 883-7464
              (REGISTRANT'S TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCLUDING AREA CODE)

                                (NOT APPLICABLE)
          (FORMER NAME OR FORMER ADDRESS, IF CHANGED SINCE LAST REPORT)




ITEM 5: OTHER EVENTS

      On March 17, 2002 Esenjay Exploration, Inc., a Delaware corporation
("Esenjay"), Santos Americas and Europe Corporation, a Delaware corporation
("Parent"), and ECM Acquisition Company, a Delaware corporation and a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent ("Sub"), entered into an Agreement dated March
17, 2002 (the "Merger Agreement") pursuant to which Sub agreed to commence a
tender offer (the "Offer") for all outstanding shares of Esenjay common stock,
par value $0.01 (the "Common Stock") at a price per share of $2.84 in cash (the
"Offer Price"). The Merger Agreement provides for a two-step transaction. The
first step is the Offer and the second step a follow-on merger between Sub and
Esenjay in which Esenjay would be the surviving corporation.

      Esenjay announced on April 23, 2002 that the Offer had been completed,
with 92.3% of the outstanding shares of Esenjay common stock (including
shares subject to guaranteed delivery) having been validly tendered and not
withdrawn. Esenjay also announced that Santos advised it the follow-on merger
between Sub and Esenjay was expected to be completed promptly after payment
for the tendered shares, on or about April 26, 2002. Esenjay issued a press
release announcing the completion of the Offer on April 23, 2002, a copy of
which is filed as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and which is incorporated herein by
reference.

ITEM 7: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS

99.1 Text of press release dated April 23, 2002 issued by Esenjay Exploration,
Inc.



                                    SIGNATURE

      Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.



DATE:  APRIL 23, 2002               ESENJAY EXPLORATION, INC.


                                    By: /s/ DAVID B. CHRISTOFFERSON
                                        --------------------------------------
                                        David B. Christofferson, Senior
                                        Vice President and General Counsel



                                  EXHIBIT INDEX

99.1     Text of press release dated April 23, 2002 issued by Esenjay
         Exploration, Inc.

EX-99.1

                                                                    Exhibit 99.1

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          NEWS RELEASE NUMBER     02 - 04

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


           ESENJAY EXPLORATION, INC. ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF TENDER
                           OFFER FOR ITS COMMON STOCK

HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 23, 2002 - Esenjay Exploration, Inc. ("Esenjay")
announced today that Santos Americas and Europe Corporation and ECM Acquisition
Company (collectively "Santos") have notified Esenjay that they have completed
their cash tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of
Esenjay Exploration, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESNJ).

The offer expired at 12:00 midnight (New York City time) on April 22, 2002.
Santos has accepted for payment all Esenjay shares validly tendered and not
withdrawn as of the expiration of the offer. Santos has announced that payment
for those shares will be made promptly.

The Bank of New York, the depository for the offer, has advised Santos that, as
of the expiration of the offer, approximately 17.8 million shares of Esenjay
common stock (including approximately 552,886 shares subject to guarantees of
delivery within the next three days) were validly tendered and not withdrawn in
the offer. Those shares represent approximately 92.3% of the outstanding shares
of Esenjay common stock.

Santos has stated it will complete the acquisition of Esenjay promptly after
payment for the tendered shares, on or about April 26, 2002, through a
short-form merger in which each share of Esenjay common stock not purchased
in the offer and not held by stockholders who properly exercise dissenters'
rights under Delaware law will be converted into the right to receive $2.84
in cash. Following the second-step merger, Esenjay will become a wholly owned
subsidiary of Santos. As such it will no longer be a publicly traded company.







         [CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION]

Certain statements contained herein that set forth management's 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 or merger transactions, potential delays in timing, and
regulatory uncertainties. 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.