Santos receives tolling agreements for Barossa gas transport through Darwin

Santos Ltd., Adelaide, has received tolling agreements to transport and process gas from its proposed Barossa gas-LNG project in the Timor Sea through existing Darwin LNG infrastructure.

The agreements bring the Barossa JV a step closer to a final investment decision.

In November, Santos said it was on track to reach FID by yearend. Originally expected in June, the decision has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on global energy markets.

The Barossa project was granted a production license (NT/L1) by the Australian National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator in early July to replace the former retention license.

Field development will involve a floating production, storage and offloading facility that will separate condensate from gas. Dehydrated gas will be piped to the onshore Darwin LNG plant to 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 expects the Barossa project to produce 3.7 million tonnes of LNG and 1.5 million bbl/year of condensate during an expected 25-year life.