Offshore staff
ADELAIDE, Australia – Santos has started the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase for its proposed Bayu-Undan carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.
The Bayu-Undan field offshore gas production complex in the Timor Sea, off Timor-Leste, exports gas to the Darwin LNG plant.
According to Santos, the CCS project could potentially store up to 10 MM metric tons/yr (11 Mm tons) of C02, equivalent to around 1.5% of Australia’s annual carbon emissions.
This could potentially be the world’s largest CCS scheme, the company added.
FEED work will include engineering and design for additional C02 processing capacity at Darwin LNG, and re-purposing of the Bayu-Undan facilities for carbon sequestration after gas production ceases.
Santos is working with ANPM, the Timor-Leste regulator, on the agreements and regulatory framework needed for the project. Agreements between the governments of Timor-Leste and Australia, and other Australian regulatory arrangements, are also on the agenda.
Carbon dioxide sources could come from Australian gas projects (including the new offshore Barossa field development) and other industries in the Northern Territory, while Bayu-Undan CCS could also be the start of a new carbon services industry for Timor-Leste, Santos said.
Last month, a meeting of the Timor-Leste and Australian Prime Ministers included a commitment by Australia to establish an LNG Partnership Fund to strengthen links between the two countries in gas development and trade, and CCS.
Santos has a 43.4% operated interest in Bayu-Undan and Darwin LNG. Other partners are SK E&S (25%), INPEX (11.4%), ENI (11%), JERA (6.1%) and Tokyo Gas (3.1%).
A final investment decision on Bayu-Undan CCS could follow next year.
3/11/2022
