Santos has helped provide an informative three-day Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) course in Timor-Leste.
A group of 40 participants and key stakeholders from ANPM (National Petroleum and Minerals Authority), Timor Gap, Ministry of Petroleum, Department of Environment, International Finance Corporate (IFC) and members of our Santos team were invited to attend the short course held in Dili. The program was a collaboration with the University of Adelaide, Co2CRC and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, aimed at increasing understanding and support for CCS.
Education on CCS is becoming increasingly important as the world starts to understand the central role it will play in decarbonisation and achieving large-scale emissions reduction, and this course was an opportunity to learn more about CCS technology and the Bayu-Undan CCS project.
The Bayu-Undan CCS Project will leverage and repurpose existing infrastructure and facilities and targets the capture of up to 10 million tonnes per annum of CO2, which would make it one of the largest CCS projects in the world. The project would create new jobs and a new revenue stream for the Timor-Leste once gas production from Bayu-Undan ceases.
At the conclusion of the short course Santos hosted an awards night for all 40 participants, attended by distinguished guests including Australia’s First Secretary Penny Roberts and Chief of Staff and representative for the Minister of Petroleum Valente Ferreira.
The CCS course provided a platform for open discussions and relationship building between key Timor-Leste stakeholders and government departments and agencies, important for the advancement of the project. It was the first phase of what Santos intends to be a broader plan to drive greater education around, and support for, the Bayu-Undan CCS Project. Next year we also seek to be part of the Australia Awards program in Timor-Leste, and in partnership with the University of Adelaide, fund a scholarship for a local Timorese student to study a Master of Petroleum Engineering (with a CCS component).
