PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Santos has received government approval for its Mt Tabor biodiversity offset project, in South West Queensland.

The company on Friday said that the final approval from the Queensland government meant the rich environment that covers over 5 000 ha in South West Queensland will be conserved, in partnership with local traditional owners, the Bidjara people.

MD and CEO Kevin Gallagher said the final approval had cemented a partnership with the Bidjara people that had been many years in the making.

“We’ve been working closely with the traditional owners of the Mt Tabor property, the Bidjara people, for some time, to develop this project.

“With this final approval, I’m pleased we can continue to work with the Bidjara people to protect and even improve this environmentally rich land for many years to come, while ensuring the Bidjara people can reap the financial benefits of the partnership.

“This partnership stems from a long-standing and positive relationship going back many years and we look forward to that relationship strengthening as we work together to protect the environment and cultural values of the area, for many years to come.”

With the Queensland Department of Resources declaring Santos’ proposed project within Mt Tabor an area of high nature conservation value under the Vegetation Management Act (VMA), the agreement means Santos, utilising areas of the Mt Tabor property, can offset activities from its Gladstone liquefied natural gas (GLNG) development.

Now formalised and with full Commonwealth and Queensland government approval, the partnership will allow for the regeneration of native vegetation and the development of ecological habitat to support a broad range of native and threatened fauna species, providing biodiversity offsets for GLNG over multiple years of development in the Fairview field.

The approval of the biodiversity offset programme comes just days after the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Authority (Nopsema) ordered Santos to pause construction on its A$4.7-billion Barrossa gas project owing to potential risks to Aboriginal cultural sites.

Nopsema directed Santos to obtain further information about the potential impacts of the operation on any underwater cultural heritage places along the Barossa pipeline route.

Santos last year lost an appeal in the Full Federal Court against a September decision by the Federal Court to set aside the acceptance by Nopsema of an environmental plan covering the drilling and completion activities in relation to the Barossa gas project.

The Federal Court’s decision was based on a finding that Nopsema could not be lawfully satisfied that the drilling environment plan met the criteria required by the regulations and in particular failed to assess whether the drilling environment plan demonstrated that Santos consulted with each person that it was required by the regulations to consult with.

The Barossa project comprises a floating production, storage and offloading vessel, subsea production wells, supporting subsea infrastructure and a gas export pipeline tied into the existing Bayu-Undan to Darwin LNG pipeline.