Santos Going Ahead With Darwin Pipeline Duplication Project

Energy firm and operator of the Barossa joint venture Santos has made a final investment decision (FID) for the Darwin Pipeline Duplication Project, located offshore Australia’s Northern Territory.

The decision will extend the Barossa Gas Export Pipeline to the Santos-operated Darwin LNG facility and allow for the repurposing of the existing Bayu-Undan to Darwin pipeline to facilitate carbon capture and storage options.

Gas from the Barossa field, located 185 miles north of Darwin, is intended to replace the current supply from the Bayu-Undan facility located in Timor-Leste. First gas production at Darwin LNG using Barossa gas is targeted for the first half of 2025.

Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher said the Darwin LNG Life Extension, Darwin Pipeline Duplication, and Bayu-Undan CCS projects would promote sustainable development and jobs growth in the Northern Territory and Timor-Leste while building momentum for a whole region carbon reduction solution.

“Taking FID on the Darwin Pipeline Duplication Project will allow for the Barossa project to be CCS ready. The Bayu-Undan CCS project has the potential to capture and store up to 10 million tons of carbon dioxide per annum, equivalent to about 1.5 percent of Australia’s carbon emissions each year from other projects, customers, and other hard-to-abate industries, and has the potential to be the largest CCS project in the world,” Gallagher added.

Adding the Darwin Pipeline Duplication project is estimated to increase Santos’ share of capital expenditure for the Barossa project by approximately $311 million.

The Barossa joint venture has agreed with the Darwin LNG joint venture partners to terminate the toll arrangement for using the original Bayu-Undan to Darwin LNG pipeline, reducing operating expenses for Barossa.

Work is scheduled to begin on the Darwin Pipeline Duplication project in 2023, subject to Commonwealth and Northern Territory regulatory approvals.

A final investment decision on Bayu-Undan CCS is targeted for 2023. Santos stated that it continued to work with the Australian and Timor-Leste governments to establish regulatory frameworks to support future CCS operations.

To contact the author, email bojan.lepic@rigzone.com