Santos granted production license for Barossa gas project

Santos Ltd., Adelaide, has been granted a production license surrounding its Barossa-Caldita gas fields in the offshore Northern Territory sector of the Bonaparte basin north of Darwin.

The license was granted by the Australian National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) on July 3 following Santos’ application in late March.

The license, NT/L1, replaces the company’s former retention license and contains 10 blocks for a total area of 841 sq km.

The Santos group has yet to sanction the Barossa gas project. The final investment decision was due in June but has been delayed because of market conditions.

Development of Barossa field will involve a floating production, storage, and offloading facility that will separate condensate from gas. Dehydrated gas will then be piped to the onshore Darwin LNG plant where it will be used as backfill for LNG production as the current supply from Bayu-Undan field declines.

Condensate will be exported to market directly from the FPSO.

The pipeline from the field to Darwin was sanctioned by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environment Management Authority in March.

Santos says that Barossa project will produce 3.7 million tonnes of LNG and 1.5 million bbl/year of condensate during an expected 25-year life.