Santos investors air fears

Coal seam gas proposal in rural NSW criticised

SANTOS has defended shareholders’ criticism of its controversial coal seam gas proposal for the NSW town of Narrabri during its annual general meeting.

Investors yesterday expressed environmental and risk concerns about the project, which if approved, would allow Santos to drill 850 gas wells and provide energy for up to half of NSW.

Some shareholders said the project (right) had failed to win community support and carried the risk of environmental damage.

Opponents say extracting methane from the coal seam will contaminate groundwater, and have filed complaints to the NSW government’s Independent Planning Commission, which will decide the project’s fate.

However, chairman Keith Spence claimed most opponents lived outside Narrabri. He said Santos had a long history of operating assets safely and sustainably. “We’re confident in the support we have for the project and expect it to proceed,” he told the meeting.

A number of shareholder activist groups posed questions to management. Environmental impact was a recurring theme.

“It’s clear climate change is a very important issue for our shareholders and it is for me,” Mr Spence said.

Santos is investigating carbon capture and storage at its Moomba gas plant in South Australia.

The aim is to capture 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide separated from natural gas and store it in the Cooper Basin.

Earlier at the meeting, environmentally-minded shareholders failed to impose carbon emission reductions.

Shareholders representing the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility proposed reduction targets aligned with the international Paris Agreement on climate change of 2016.

However, only six per cent of shareholders voted for the first of these proposals – which would have allowed shareholders more power in questioning management.

The result meant the votes on the remaining proposals carried no power. However, these decisions were more contentious.

Shareholders were not able to attend the meeting, which was webcast from Adelaide, due to coronavirus precautions.