ConocoPhillips in exclusive talks for Barossa-Darwin LNG link

A ConocoPhillips-led consortium developing the Barossa offshore gas and condensate project in Australia has entered into exclusive negotiations with the Darwin LNG Joint Venture for the supply of backfill gas to the Darwin LNG facility.

ConocoPhillips has previously said that it believes Barossa is a leading candidate to backfill the Darwin LNG facility from ~2022 when the existing offshore gas supply from the Bayu-Undan field is expected to be exhausted.

Santos, a partner in the Barossa offshore project, said on Thursday the exclusive talks would give Barossa JV “an exclusive commercial negotiation period to reach a processing services agreement as well as settle on a tariff in anticipation of a Final Investment Decision early next year.”

The Barossa project entered the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase of development in April last year, and in May announced the contract with TechnipFMC to supply the Subsea Production System (SPS) and associated SPS installation support.

The indicative plan for Barossa includes development wells drilling in 2020/21, deployment of a newbuilt FPSO and the installation of subsea infrastructure, with the operations expected to start in 2023.

Japan’s MODEC in June 2018 confirmed the award of a contract by ConocoPhillips for the front end engineering design (FEED) of a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for the Barossa project. MODEC is competing for the FPSO award with a JV between Samsung and TechnipFMC.

Dry gas would be transported from the FPSO via a new 260km pipeline (GEP) to a tie‐in point on the existing Bayu‐Undan pipeline (approximately 130km offshore from Darwin).

Santos CEO: Barossa is a lead candidate for Darwin LNG

Commenting on the exclusive talks with Darwin JV Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher said: “This exclusivity confirms the confidence we had to commit to long-lead items last month and maintain project schedule to deliver gas to DLNG as early as possible.”

“Clearly, it also confirms Barossa’s status as the lead candidate for the supply of backfill gas to Darwin LNG. Bids have also been received and are being evaluated for the FPSO, gas export pipeline and development drilling. We’re getting on with the job.”

The Barossa gas field is located 300 kilometers north of Darwin. According to info on ConocoPhillips’ website, Barossa would ensure continued operation of the DLNG facility for a further 20 plus years, providing ongoing economic and social benefits to Darwin.

Santos holds a 25% interest in the Barossa-Caldita joint venture along with partners ConocoPhillips (37.5% and operator) and SK E&S (37.5%). Worth noting, Santos is also a joint venture partner in Darwin LNG with an 11.5% interest.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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