Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The board of oil and gas major Santos has taken a final investment decision on the $235-million Phase 3C infill drilling programme at the Bayu-Undan field, in the Timor Sea.
The programme will comprise three production wells and will develop additional natural gas and liquids reserves, extending the field life as well as production from the offshore facilities and the Darwin liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant.
“We are delighted to be able to pursue an opportunity that wasn’t on the table 12 months ago, which will optimise field recovery, extend production and deliver significant value to both the Bayu-Undan joint venture and the people of Timor-Leste,” said Santos MD and CEO Kevin Gallagher.
“The infill drilling programme adds over 20-million barrels of oil equivalent gross reserves and production at a low cost of supply, and extends the life of Bayu-Undan, reducing the period that Darwin LNG is offline before the Barossa project comes on stream.”
The Barossa gasfield sits within Santos’ Northern Australia portfolio, one of the company’s core long-life, natural gas asset regions. The project is currently in the front-end engineering design phase, which includes the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility, subsea production system and gas export pipeline.
A final investment decision on Barossa is expected in the first half of this year.
Gallagher noted on Tuesday that sanctioning of the Phase 3C infill drilling programme comes less than seven months after the company became the operator of the Bayu-Undan joint venture, following the completion of major ConocoPhillips’ northern Australian and Timor-Leste assets.