PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Oil and gas major Santos has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU), as operator of the Bayu-Undan joint venture (JV), with the Timor-Leste regulator Autoridade Nacional do Petróleo e Minerais (ANPM) to progress carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the Timor Sea.
The MoU details the areas the Bayu-Undan JV and the ANPM, with the support of the Timor-Leste government, will work on collaboratively to test the viability of repurposing the existing Bayu-Undan facilities and using the Bayu-Undan reservoir for CCS.
These include sharing technical, operational and commercial information, assessing the regulatory framework, evaluating local capacity opportunities and establishing a decision timeline.
“We believe the Bayu-Undan reservoir and facilities have the potential to be a world-leading CCS project and we are delighted to be working together with the ANPM and the Timor-Leste government to progress this opportunity,” Santos MD and CEO Kevin Gallagher said.
“CCS is recognised by the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as being a critical technology to achieve the world’s climate goals. Santos’ experience with the globally-competitive Moomba CCS project in outback South Australia will bring invaluable experience to the project.
“CCS at Bayu-Undan has potential capacity to safely and permanently store approximately 10-million tonnes per annum of CO2 and could build a new job-creating and revenue-generating industry for Timor-Leste.
“This has the potential to be a win-win; good for the environment, good for industry and opening up an exciting opportunity for the people of Timor-Leste, so we look forward to progressing this MoU in partnership with the ANPM.”
ANPM president Florentino Soares Ferreira said that this was a milestone for Timor-Leste.
“With the signing of the CCS MoU between Santos and ANPM proves that Timor-Leste is proactively taking the lead in integrating its oil and gas sector towards Timor-Leste’s commitment of accelerating decarbonization and meeting the UN net zero target by 2050.
“Despite Timor-Leste being one of the lowest emission countries in the world, and that the Paris Agreement provides waiver or concession to the developing and less developed nations such as Timor-Leste; we understand that carbon trading or carbon credits market is an integral part of our future economy. We don’t want to miss this opportunity; and I believe this will become one of the largest CCS projects in the Southern Hemisphere. This will enable both Timor-Leste and Australia to exploit its untapped resources in meeting energy demands as well as offsetting its carbon emissions and transitioning towards carbon neutral economies.”
Santos has a 43.4% operated interest in Bayu-Undan, while the remaining interest is held by SK E&S, INPEX, Eni and Tokyo Timor Sea Resources.