Santos advances remaining Barossa applications following NOPSEMA approval
Santos Ltd. is advancing work in Australia’s Northern Territory after the Barossa Development Drilling and Completions Environment Plan (EP) was accepted by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).
The operator is proceeding with applications for all remaining approvals for the project.
The offshore gas and condensate project is expected to provide a new source of gas to the existing Darwin LNG (DLNG) plant. The development area lies within the Bonaparte basin in 130-350 m of water in permit NT/L1.
Natural gas will be extracted from Barossa field in Commonwealth waters about 285 km offshore north-northwest from Darwin and transported via gas pipeline (Gas Export Pipeline (GEP) and Darwin Pipeline Duplication (DPD)) to the existing DLNG plant, with first gas targeted for 2025.
Project infrastructure will comprise a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO), a subsea production system, supporting in-field subsea infrastructure, and the GEP and the DPD.
Up to eight subsea wells are expected to be drilled in the field (six wells from three drill centers, with contingency plans for an additional two wells). Anticipated production is 3.7 million tonnes/year of LNG and 1.5 million bbl/year of condensate.
Barossa gas field partners faced a delay in early 2023 as NOPSEMA ordered evaluation of environmental risks to underwater indigenous cultural heritage before starting construction on the pipeline that will link the field to the Darwin LNG plant (OGJ Online, Feb. 6, 2023). Santos has conducted further extensive consultation with Tiwi Island people and other relevant persons consistent with the applicable regulations, NOPSEMA’s guidelines, and guidance provided by the decision of the Full Federal Court in the Tipakalippa proceedings.
Santos plans to bring gas on-stream in first-half 2025.
Santos is operator of the Barossa project with 50% interest. Partners are SK E&S (37.5%) and JERA (12.5%).
Alex Procyk | Upstream Editor
Alex Procyk is Upstream Editor at Oil & Gas Journal. He has also served as a principal technical professional at Halliburton and as a completion engineer at ConocoPhillips. He holds a BS in chemistry (1987) from Kent State University and a PhD in chemistry (1992) from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).
