Case study: Santos

Expanding gas operations to secure domestic and southeast ASIAN energy supply

As Santos prepares for first gas at its Barossa gas project, 300 kilometres north of Darwin, the global energy company is also advancing plans for other projects throughout the region, including a CCS hub at Bayu-Undan in Timor-Leste to link back to Darwin LNG.

Background

Santos has had a long and important association with the Northern Territory, stretching back many decades.

As detailed in its 2025 full-year results, the company has made significant progress on projects including Barossa LNG, Darwin LNG life extension and Darwin Pipeline Duplication. It is also working on plans for the Beetaloo Sub-basin.

The company has engaged 54 Aboriginal trainees, employees and apprentices since 2023, delivering jobs and support for local businesses.

Milestones

Barossa LNG

At 91% complete, this project is on schedule to deliver the first gas from the Barossa field to the Darwin LNG facility in Q3 2025. It will create 300 operations and maintenance jobs and about A$2.5 million in local wages, supply and services purchases over the life of the project.

Santos announced the arrival of the BW Opal FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading) vessel at the Barossa gas field on Sunday 15 June 2025, marking a critical milestone on the path to first gas in the third quarter of 2025.

The FPSO has since been successfully connected and final commissioning activities are progressing to plan.

Darwin pipeline duplication

Now completed, it links the Barossa field to the Darwin LNG facility.

Darwin LNG life extension

On track to be completed early in the third quarter of 2025, with work now 90% complete. It will extend operating life of the Barossa LNG by 20 years when it comes online later this year, and is set to produce approximately 3.7 Mtpa.

Carbon capture storage (CCS)

FEED of Bayu-Undan CCS is 96% complete with this depleted field forecast to store up to 10 Mtpa of CO₂.

Beetaloo Sub-basin

A memorandum of understanding was executed with Tamboran Resources to complete a joint study on gas export options for Beetaloo through DLNG expansion up to approved nominal 10 Mtpa capacity.

Future plans

Alongside INPEX, Santos is committed to supporting the Northern Territory Government’s ongoing efforts to establish the Middle Arm Precinct.

The precinct is a master planned area with a focus on low emission liquid natural gas, advanced manufacturing, CCS, mineral processing and hydrogen.

In their Beetaloo Sub-basin exploration acreage, Santos is planning a drilling program for 2026, to appraise the more than 200 trillion cubic feet of gas estimated in place. This builds upon its successful flow testing of three wells at its Tanumbirini well site in recent times

The recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Santos and Tamboran Resources to examine a future expansion of the Darwin LNG Train 2 and the joint exploration of their Beetaloo Sub-basin acreage are key steps towards ensuring gas supply for the Northern Territory and Australian energy markets.

At-a-glance