Santos Receives Approval for New Well to Boost Gas Production in Australia

Australian energy player Santos has received the thumbs-up for its revised environment plan (EP) from the country’s offshore regulator, which will enable it to bring online a new well off the coast of Australia to bolster gas production from existing assets.

Approval for Halyard-2 Production Well

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) has accepted Santos’ environment plan to drill and complete the Halyard-2 production well in the Greater East Spar (GES) field, located in Commonwealth waters within production licenses WA-13-L and WA-45-L.

Operational Enhancements

The Australian firm is the operator of the John Brookes, Spartan, and GES gas fields on the northwest shelf of Western Australia. The production fluids from these fields are transported by subsea pipelines to the Varanus Island (VI) oil and gas hub, which is managed under the environment plan accepted by the regulator in September 2014.

Santos revised the EP to incorporate the commissioning, start-up, and operations associated with the Halyard-2 well, which will replace the Halyard-1 well to allow gas supply to continue at the Varanus Island Hub.

According to the operator, the Halyard 2 well will be connected to the Varanus Island Hub in Q1 2025, followed by the operation of the well through the hub. Santos has denied the existence of any new or increased environmental risks associated with the commissioning, start-up, and operation of the new well.

Continued Development Activities

Following an engineering, procurement, removal, and disposal contract in November 2023, McDermott was tasked with the full removal and disposal of the Campbell platform, which was part of the Varanus Island Hub offshore infrastructure in Western Australia. Once the decommissioning work was completed, Santos secured another job with McDermott for the decommissioning of the Harriet Alpha platform and associated infrastructure offshore Western Australia.

Barossa Gas Project and Darwin LNG

Santos is also working on the Barossa gas project, located off the Northern Territory of Australia. The project, along with the associated Darwin LNG life extension, is expected to create jobs and economic opportunities for the region.

The NT government estimates significant economic benefits from the projects, including job creation and contract opportunities for Territorians.

Future Outlook

BW Offshore’s FPSO vessel is scheduled to start work at the Barossa gas project in 2025. The FPSO has a processing capacity of up to 900 million standard cubic feet per day of gas and a design capacity of 11,000 barrels per day of stabilized condensate.

The project is on track for gas production to commence in the third quarter of 2025, marking a significant milestone in Santos’ portfolio expansion efforts.