Santos has achieved a crucial milestone for its Barossa Gas Project with the approval of the Barossa Development Drilling and Completions Environment Plan (EP) by the Australian National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).

Following the temporary suspension of NOPSEMA's March 2022 approval of the EP in September 2022, Santos conducted extensive consultations with Tiwi Island people and other relevant stakeholders, adhering to regulations, NOPSEMA's guidelines, and guidance from the Full Federal Court's decision in the Tipakalippa proceedings.

With the recent approval in place, Santos is now progressing with applications for all remaining approvals required for the Barossa Gas Project.

The Barossa Offshore Project Proposal was initially accepted by NOPSEMA in March 2018. The project aims to develop offshore gas and condensate resources to supply the existing Darwin liquefied natural gas (DLNG) facility in the Northern Territory.

Extracted from the Barossa field, located approximately 177 miles offshore north-northwest from Darwin, natural gas will be transported via a gas export pipeline (GEP) and Darwin Pipeline Duplication (DPD) to the DLNG facility, with the first gas targeted for 2025.

The project infrastructure includes a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility, a subsea production system, supporting in-field subsea infrastructure, the GEP, and DPD. Santos plans to drill up to eight subsea wells in the Barossa field, with gas and condensate gathered and transported to the FPSO facility for initial processing. The dry natural gas will then be sent through the gas pipeline for onshore processing at the DLNG facility, while condensate will be transferred to specialized tankers for export.