Offshore staff
ADELAIDE, Australia — Santos has signed four memoranda of understanding (MoUs) for the supply of emitted CO2 to the proposed Bayu-Undan carbon capture and storage (CCS) development offshore Timor-Leste in the Timor Sea.
The non-binding agreements cover potential upstream gas and LNG projects offshore Australia’s Northern Territory and in Darwin, and an energy/industrial conglomerate in South Korea, with potential supplies exceeding 10 MM metric tons per year.
Bayu-Undan CCS ex-Darwin could be a relatively low-cost carbon solution, Santos said, with costs comfortably within the Australian government’s proposed price cap on Australian Carbon Credit Units.
The project would provide permanent CO2 storage in depleted gas reservoirs that previously held gas and condensate for tens of millions of years.
Darwin, the company added, could serve as a regional hub for CO2 capture, transfer and storage not just to Bayu-Undan but to other potential CCS locations offshore the Northern Territory, currently in the exploration and feasibility stages.
The parties to the MoUs will now collaborate to attain binding commitments, with one party investigating international CO2 transfer and carbon management services.
Santos Managing Director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said, “With CO2 transport and storage demand only likely to grow, we will continue to work with the Timor-Leste and Australian governments to urgently progress the necessary regulatory and fiscal frameworks and approvals required to support the development of Bayu-Undan CCS.”
The company is targeting final investment decision in 2025.
05.03.2023
