Australia's Santos begins design work at Bayu-Undan CO2 facility

March 9 (Reuters) - Australia's Santos Ltd (STO.AX) said on Wednesday it has started early engineering and design works for its Bayu-Undan carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, which seeks to develop the facilities at the island nation of Timor-Leste.

The Bayu-Undan front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase initiated by the natural oil major will help Darwin liquefied natural gas plant to process additional carbon dioxide (CO2).

Santos had proposed to use the Bayu Undan reservoir for capturing and storing CO2 from a new field it is developing off northwestern Australia, the $3.6 billion Barossa project, where the gas has a very high CO2 content compared to other projects in the region. read more

Santos had said in the past that it expects Bayu Undan CCS to be ready when the Barossa field starts up, and will push the company ahead in its goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2040 or 2050.

The CCS project will also aid Timor-Leste in filling a multi-billion dollar revenue hole starting in late 2023, when the depleted oil and gas field off its coast dries up.

The company said the CCS project will need negotiations between the governments of Timor-Leste and Australia, in addition to some Australian regulatory arrangements for the CCS project.

Santos Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher said the project would create new jobs and a new revenue stream for the nation. (https://bit.ly/3pOjNW6)

Santos owns a 43.4% operating interest in Bayu-Undan facility in the Timor Sea. The five joint venture partners headquartered in Japan, Korea and Italy have supported the FEED phase, Gallagher added.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.