Santos Ltd. received first gas from the BW Opal floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO) about 285 km offshore from Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. This follows BW Opal’s start-up Sept. 16, 2025, and the beginning of flow from subsea wells.
All six wells drilled in Barossa gas field have intersected excellent reservoir quality, according to Santos. Testing has been completed on five of the six wells and flow capacity exceeds pre-drill estimates. The expected average potential well deliverability is about 300 MMscfd.
The FPSO will feed the Darwin LNG plant for the next two decades. The Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority has renewed the Environment Protection License for Darwin LNG starting Sept. 19, 2025.
BW Opal contains a 358-metre hull and accommodation for up to 140 personnel. It has gas handling capacity of 850 MMscfd and condensate handling capacity of 11,000 b/d. Combined-cycle power generation, incorporating waste heat recovery and steam turbine technology, is expected to reduce non-reservoir emissions by more than 50% (more than 0.75 million tonnes CO2e/year).
The Barossa LNG project consists of the FPSO, a subsea production system, supporting in-field subsea infrastructure, a gas export pipeline, and a Darwin pipeline duplication. Up to eight subsea wells are planned (six wells from three drill centers) with contingency plans for an additional two wells. Gas and condensate is gathered from the wells through the subsea production system and then brought to the FPSO via a network of subsea infrastructure.
Initial processing occurs at the FPSO to separate the natural gas, water, and condensate. Dry natural gas is transported through the gas pipeline for onshore processing at the Darwin LNG plant, while condensate is transferred from the FPSO to specialized tankers for export.
Santos operates the Barossa LNG project with joint venture partners PRISM Energy International Australia Pty Ltd. and JERA Australia.
