The FPSO is the production centrepiece of Santos’ Barossa LNG project. Santos and its joint venture partners, SK E&S and JERA Co., Inc. have invested US$3.95 billion (A$6.07 billion at today’s rates) on the Barossa LNG project to date, which is now in the final stages of commissioning.
Five wells of the six-well program have now been drilled with the fifth well being prepared for flow testing. The final well is expected to be completed in the third quarter.
Production from three wells can deliver full production rates at the Darwin LNG plant if required.
The 262 km Gas Export Pipeline and 123 km Darwin Pipeline Duplication are complete, in addition to subsea infrastructure required for first gas.
Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Office Kevin Gallagher said:
- the arrival of the BW Opal FPSO into the Barossa field and commencement of hook up and commissioning is a significant milestone for Santos and its Barossa LNG joint venture partners;
- the project has come a long way since regulator acceptance of the Offshore Project Proposal in 2018;
- the project remains on track for first gas in the third quarter of 2025, and within the original cost guidance, which is a remarkable achievement;
- Barossa is a world class asset and, together with the Pikka phase one project in Alaska, is expected to deliver a 30 per cent increase in production over the next eighteen months or so compared to 2024;
- these projects will set the company up with long-term, stable cash flows to underpin compelling shareholder returns.
The Barossa LNG project will deliver reliable energy for the next decade and beyond that supports energy security, national security and our partners’ emissions reduction plans across the Asia region.
As previously announced, Santos’ equity share of Barossa LNG is largely contracted as a part of Santos’ portfolio of long-term and mid-term LNG sales agreements.
Santos’ portfolio of high-quality, tier-one customers includes Diamond Gas International Pte Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation), Hokkaido Gas Co., Ltd, Shizuoka Gas Co. Ltd, TotalEnergies Gas & Power Asia Limited and Glencore Singapore Pte Ltd, as well as foundation customers from our GLNG and PNG LNG projects being PETRONAS, KOGAS, Osaka Gas, JERA Co., Inc., Sinopec (Unipec Asia Co Ltd), and CPC Corporation.
Kevin Gallagher said:
- our agreements with tier one customers strengthen Santos’ LNG portfolio which is around 90 per cent contracted over the next five years with strong pricing driven by the high heating value of our LNG, reliability of supply, and our proximity to growing markets in Asia and our Japanese, Korean, Malaysian and Chinese customers.
The DLE project and associated infrastructure has created 300 construction and maintenance jobs in Darwin with a total investment of ~A$1 billion (at today’s rates).
Santos’ operations at Darwin LNG, which has a 100 per cent local workforce, is expected to generate about A$100 million a year in supply and service opportunities for Northern Territory businesses.
