Production Operations

Activity Summary

The Santos-operated Barossa Gas Project is an offshore gas and condensate project with the purpose of providing a new source of gas for the existing Darwin liquified natural gas (DLNG) facility at Wickham Point in the NT. It is intended that natural gas and condensate would be extracted from the Barossa field, located in Commonwealth waters approximately 285 kilometres offshore north-northwest from Darwin. Initial processing would occur at the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility, to separate the natural gas, water and condensate extracted from the Barossa field. The dry natural gas would be transported through the GEP for onshore processing at the DLNG facility. The condensate would be transferred from the FPSO facility to purpose-built tankers for international export.

As part of obtaining authorisation for this activity, Santos is undertaking consultation for the following regulatory approvals:

The Production Operations Environment Plan (EP) relating to the arrival and operations of the FPSO, operation of a subsea production system and supporting subsea infrastructure, and operation of a 285 km section of the GEP located in Commonwealth waters where offshore petroleum activities are regulated under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth) (OPGGS Act).
The Operations Environmental Management Plan (OEMP) which includes the:
- 8.26 km section of the GEP in NT coastal waters covered by the Petroleum (Submerged Lands Act) 1981 (NT) (PSL Act); and
- ~92 km section of the GEP inshore of NT waters covered by the Energy Pipelines Act 1981 (NT) (Energy Pipelines Act).

The estimated life of the Barossa Development is 25 years, and the Production Operations EP and the OEMP will be reviewed every five years following initial regulator authorisation. Productions Operations Activity is planned to commence in 2025.

Approvals process

The Commonwealth Government’s independent expert regulator for offshore oil and gas development, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Management Authority (NOPSEMA), accepted the Barossa Offshore Project Proposal (OPP) in March 2018. The OPP is the government’s project-level environmental approval for offshore projects, with construction and operations subject to acceptance of activity-level environment plans (EPs). An EP:

must provide a detailed environmental impact and risk assessment of the proposed offshore activity and demonstrate how those impacts and risks will be reduced to a level that is as low as reasonably practicable and acceptable for the life of the activity; and
must describe how Santos has identified and consulted with relevant persons whose interests, functions and activities may be affected by the activities to be carried out under the EP.

Santos will be consulting in accordance with section 25 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Environment) Regulations 2023 (Cth) (OPGGS Environment Regulations) as the Production Operations EP is developed.

For Production Operations activity in Northern Territory waters, the OEMP will be submitted to the NT Department of Industry Tourism and Trade (DITT).

Seeking information and what's next

Santos is consulting on both the Production Operations EP (Commonwealth waters) and OEMP (NT waters) at the same time.

Santos is continuing its Barossa Gas Project consultation efforts to further learn, understand and assess values and sensitivities of the environment that may be affected by our proposed activities, and potential environmental impacts and risks. There may be information Santos is not yet aware of but needs to properly understand to assess potential activity impacts and risks. Consultation may inform this. It may also inform what control measures are to be proposed to reduce environmental impacts and risks to as low as reasonably practicable and to an acceptable level.

In preparing an EP for submission to NOPSEMA, a titleholder must consult with each ‘relevant person’, including relevant Commonwealth, State and Northern Territory Departments or agencies and persons (or organisations) whose functions, interests or activities may be affected by the activity proposed to be carried out under an EP.

Relevant persons being consulted on under the OPGGS Environment Regulations should note that they:

are entitled to be given sufficient information to allow them to make an informed assessment of the possible consequences of the activity on their functions, interests or activities;
are entitled to be allowed a reasonable period for the consultation; and
may request particular information provided in consultation not be published.

If you do ask this, Santos will respect that, and the information will not be published under the OPGGS Environment Regulations. Information we need to give to NOPSEMA to assess our plan will be provided in a separate report (rather than in the published EP).

Your input is important to Santos:

so that we can understand the environmental values in the operational area and the EMBA, and the environmental impacts and risks associated with the activity;
to inform how consultation processes may need to be adapted for different relevant persons;
to ensure that we provide information to people in an appropriate and accessible manner; and
to assist with Santos’ preparation of the EP.

If you consider you may be a relevant person, please contact us as soon as possible via email at offshore.consultation@santos.com or call 1800 267 600 to allow Santos to initiate consultation with you in relation to the proposed activities and so you can tell us how you would like to be consulted. Consultation closes on Tuesday 9 April 2024.

Santos is committed to undertaking genuine and meaningful consultation. We want to provide information for people to make informed assessments of the possible consequences of the proposed activities on them. Your input is important to us, and input will be considered in the development of our EP.

Visit santos.com/barossa for more information on the Barossa Development.

Privacy Notice

Santos Limited, Santos NA Barossa Pty Ltd and their related bodies corporate (collectively, we, our, us or Santos) collect personal information about you (which may include sensitive information about your Indigenous heritage or clan group) that you provide in this form and in any consultation with you. We use this information to engage with you, to receive and respond to any feedback that you provide, to include relevant information in any reports that we prepare, and for the purposes otherwise set out in our Barossa Gas Project Consultation Privacy Policy. Santos will handle your information in accordance with our Code of Conduct, our Confidentiality, IP and Privacy Procedure and Barossa Gas Project Consultation Privacy Policy. You can ask us for a copy of any of these documents by contacting us using the details set out below.

The laws that relate to consultation regarding the environment plans may require us to collect personal information about you if your feedback is to be included in any report we prepare (including so that a copy of that report can be provided to you if you request). If you do not provide your personal information, we may not be able to identify you as the person who provided particular feedback (including in any report relating to consultation) or discuss any feedback you have provided with you further.

The information you provide will be collected by or on behalf of us and may be disclosed to other companies in the Santos group, to third parties that help us run our business, or as required by law (including collection and disclosure of information to relevant government agencies and departments to which we are required to provide reports). Your feedback may also be reflected in our environment plans (subject to any non-publication requests, as described below). We may disclose your personal information to recipients that are located outside of Australia, including in Papua New Guinea and the United States of America.

Our Barossa Gas Project Consultation Privacy Policy and related documents described in this Privacy Notice provide further information about how we store and use, and how you may access and correct, your personal information, and how you can lodge a complaint regarding the handling of your personal information (including how we will respond to that complaint). If you would like to request a copy of any personal information that we hold about you or request that we correct any such information that is inaccurate or incomplete, you can contact us in the following ways:

posting a letter addressed to us at 60 Flinders Street, Adelaide;
telephoning us on (08) 8116 5000; or
sending us an email at offshore.consultation@santos.com.

You may request that any information you provide in this form, or during any consultation, not be published (including as part of any environment plan or related reports). You can make this request by selecting the option in the form below. If you select this option, the information will not be published and Santos may contact you to discuss your wishes.

Production Operations

Activity Summary

Approvals process

Seeking information and what's next

Privacy Notice

Relevant person nomination form

Further information and links