Santos Invests $250MM to Drill 130+ New Wells

Local Queensland jobs and the economy are set to benefit from a Santos GLNG investment of $250 million (AU$360 million) to drill and connect more than 130 new production wells in the Fairview gas field, Santos noted in a company statement this week.

The company, which revealed that work will start this month with first gas in October this year, said, at peak production, the project will produce around 78 terajoules per day, which it highlighted is equivalent to about 25 percent of domestic demand in Queensland.

“While the gas will feed the GLNG plant in Gladstone and bring in export revenue for the nation, investments like this free up other supply sources for the domestic gas market, which is desperately needed,” Santos Managing Director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said in a company statement.

“Since the GLNG project was sanctioned a little over a decade ago, Santos and its GLNG partners have contributed nearly AU$300 million [$215.4 million] in royalties to State revenues,” Gallagher added.

“Not only will this new investment provide ongoing employment for 160 drilling and construction contractors over the next two and a half years, it will deliver an additional AU$91.5 million [$65.7 million] in royalties for Queensland,” he continued.

Earlier this month, Santos announced that it and its joint venture partner Beach Energy had committed to works in the Cooper Basin to boost gas supply to the domestic market. This program of works includes bringing a fifth drilling rig into the basin, and optimizing well connections, and aims to deliver an additional 15 terajoules of gas per day by the end of the year, Santos revealed.

Santos created the GLNG project in 2007. The company describes the development as a pioneering project to convert natural gas, including coal seam gas from the Bowen and Surat Basins, into LNG for export to Asia. The project involved the development of gas fields in the Bowen and Surat Basins, the construction of a 260-mile underground gas transmission pipeline to Gladstone and a two-train liquefaction and storage facility on Curtis Island in Gladstone, Santos outlines on its website.

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