PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Joint venture partners Santos and Beach Energy will work to boost gas supply from the Cooper Basin, bringing a fifth drilling rig into the basin and optimising well connections.
Santos said this week that the programme of works was aimed at delivering an additional 15 TJ/d of gas by the end of the year to the domestic market.
Santos MD and CEO Kevin Gallagher said Santos continues to support Australian industry through the delivery of competitively-priced domestic gas.
“Santos will invest more than $300-million (A$4300-million) in the Cooper basin this year developing and supplying critical fuels such as natural gas for our customers,” Gallagher said.
“This investment will deliver more gas to the domestic market, which is desperately needed. Recent domestic gas supply and price pressures have been caused by a spike in gas-fired power generation to back up renewables and to replace the 30% or more of coal-fired power generation that has been offline or not operating since early May.
“This incremental investment in the Cooper basin fits with our low cost, disciplined operating model and builds on Santos’ commitment to meeting the fuel needs of our customers.”