The Australian Oil & Gas Review
Barossa project wins approval
CONOCO Phillips has reached a key milestone towards the development of its Barossa-caldita project after receiving the tick of approval from the offshore petroleum regulator.
Barossa-caldita, a joint venture between operator Conoco Phillips (37.5 per cent), Santos (25 per cent), and SK E&S (37.5 per cent), is flagged to supply backfill gas to Darwin LNG when Bayu Undan production ends in the early 2020s.
Approval from the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) will allow the Joint Venture to begin the next stage of planning, including the submission of activity-specific environment plans.
“Acceptance of the Offshore Project Proposal (OPP) gives us a level of regulatory comfort and the certainty we need to enter the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) phase in the very near future,” Santos managing director and chief executive Kevin Gallagher said.
“This is one of the major regulatory steps leading to offshore project development and petroleum production, and it reinforces Barossa’s position as the only gas supply source capable of meeting Darwin LNG’S timetable.”
The Woodside-led Sunrise project has also been a strong contender to supply gas to Darwin LNG but was set back by a decade-long border dispute between Australia and Timor Leste.
The Barossa field, 300km north of Darwin, will comprise a permanently moored Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility, subsea production system, supporting in-field subsea infrastructure and subsea gas export pipeline.
Conoco Phillips said the expected liquefied natural gas (LNG) and condensate production rates were about 3.7 million tonnes per annum and 1.5 million barrels per year, respectively, over a 25-year operating life.
A Final Investment Decision was expected in 2019, with first gas to be delivered in 2023.