The Barossa gas field, 300 km north of Darwin, encompasses petroleum permit NT/RL5 and petroleum permit NT/RL6 to the south over the Caldita field to be developed as a potential future phase of the project.
FEED activities will involve engineering and commercial work aimed at finalisation of the project’s technical detail, costs, LNG sales agreements and negotiation of access arrangements with the owners of DLNG and the Bayu-Undan to Darwin gas pipeline.
“The Barossa FEED decision consolidates its position as the leading candidate for DLNG backfill when Bayu-Undan production ceases in the early 2020s,”? said Santos Managing Director and CEO Kevin Gallagher.
“It’s a great step forward for Santos because our higher equity position means that a successful Barossa development would more than double our current production out of Northern Australia.
“Barossa’s development would extend the operating life of DLNG for more than 20 years, help supply growing demand for natural gas in Asia to clean up Asian air pollution and reduce global carbon emissions, and provide significant jobs and business opportunities in the Northern Territory as well as export income here in Australia.”?
Contracts for field surveys and engineering for the floating production, storage and offloading facility (FPSO), subsea facilities and export pipeline will be awarded shortly.
The Barossa development concept consists of an FPSO, six subsea production wells to be drilled in the initial phase, supporting in-field subsea infrastructure and a gas export pipeline tied into the existing Bayu-Undan to Darwin pipeline, all located in Australian Commonwealth waters.
A final investment decision (FID) is targeted towards the end of 2019.
The Barossa Caldita JV is made up of ConocoPhillips (37.5 per cent and operator), Santos (25 per cent) and SK E&S (37.5 per cent).
The Darwin LNG project partners are ConocoPhillips (operator), Santos, INPEX, Eni and Tokyo Gas.