Barossa Gas Project on Australia’s Continental Shelf Nears Completion
The Barossa gas project, located in the Timor Sea on the continental shelf of north-west Australia, is now 70.6% complete. The Santos company announced this on April 18, 2024 in its report for the 1st quarter of 2024.
Santos theses:
- installation of the 262km export gas pipeline between the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility and the Darwin LNG complex is due to be completed next week;
- subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) campaign completed;
- production drilling continues: 2nd of 6 wells is close to completion;
- 13 of the 16 topside modules have already been installed on the FPSO BW Opal and are scheduled to leave the Seatrium shipyard in Singapore for the field in Q1. 2025;
- consultations are ongoing on the environmental plan for production operations, the submission of which to the regulator NOPSEMA is expected in the 2nd half of the year;
- Darwin LNG life extension project is 39% complete.
Barossa Gas Project
It involves the development of the Barossa gas condensate field (GCF) to supply the Darwin LNG liquefied natural gas plant. The gas condensate field is located approximately 285 km offshore northwest of Darivna. Produced natural gas must be transported via the Barossa and Darwin pipelines to existing DLNG facilities. The project infrastructure includes: FPSO BW Opal, chartered from BW Offshore for 15 years with the option to extend the lease for another 10 years, a subsea production complex (SPC) and 2 gas pipelines.
Barossa Export Gas Pipeline
Its total length is 262 km and its diameter is 26 inches. The gas pipeline, made of carbon steel with an external anti-corrosion and concrete coating, will be laid at a depth of 34 to 254 m. It will connect the Barossa field to the backup Darwin pipeline. Construction of the pipeline was supposed to begin in October and be completed in April 2024, but the project has repeatedly faced local discontent and litigation.
How are things going with the Pikka field on the North Slope of Alaska?
According to Santos, the company has made significant progress in implementing the $2.6 billion Pikka project:
- as of March 31, 2024, the project is 47% complete;
- for the 1st quarter drilling work was completed at 7 wells;
- work on installing vertical pipeline supports was completed by more than 65%, and pipeline laying in winter was completed by more than 61%;
- as of the end of the quarter, construction of the seawater treatment plant was 62% complete.
Pikka deposit:
- located in Alaska west of the North Slope Borough;
- 1st phase of the project: received all major environmental and regulatory approvals, includes 1 well pad, but subsequent phases are expected to add 2 more well pads and increase production to a maximum of 160 thousand barrels per day;
- within the framework of the 1st phase of field development, oil production is expected to be 80 thousand barrels per day;
- oil from the Pikka field will be transported through existing infrastructure on the peninsula, including the Kuparuk Pipeline and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS).
According to Santos managing director and chief executive K. Gallagher, Barossa and Pikka are world-class projects that will be critical to Santos and will provide the company with long-term and stable cash flows for at least the next 10 to 15 years. First gas from the Barossa project is expected in Q3. 2025, and Pikka is preparing to start production in 2026.
