Barossa LNG FPSO hooks up

THE FINAL stages of the commissioning of Santos’s Barossa gas field are now in progress following the arrival and successful hook-up last week of the floating production, storage and offloading vessel BW Opal. 

BW Offshore formally took delivery of the 294,192 DWT FPSO from Seatrium’s Tuas Boulevard Yard on 28 May and the unit departed Singapore soon after in tow of the AHTSs Posh Commander and Posh Champion. It arrived on-site, approximately 285 km north of Darwin, on 15 June and hook-up took place last week.  

Santos describes BW Opal as the production centrepiece of the Barossa LNG project, in which Santos and its joint venture partners, SK E&S and JERA Co., Inc. have invested USD 3.95 billion (AUD 6.07 billion at today’s rates) to date. 

Five wells of the six-well program have now been drilled with the fifth well being prepared for flow testing. The final well is expected to be completed in the third quarter. Production from three wells can deliver full production rates at the Darwin LNG plant if required. The 262 km Gas Export Pipeline and 123 km Darwin Pipeline Duplication are complete, in addition to subsea infrastructure required for first gas. 

Santos MD and CEO Kevin Gallagher said the project had come a long way since regulator acceptance of the Offshore Project Proposal in 2018.  

“The project remains on track for first gas in the third quarter of 2025, and within the original cost guidance, which is a remarkable achievement. Barossa is a world class asset and, together with the Pikka phase one project in Alaska, is expected to deliver a 30% increase in production over the next eighteen months or so compared to 2024.   

These projects will set the company up with long-term, stable cash flows to underpin compelling shareholder returns,” “Mr Gallagher said. 

Santos is currently the object of a AUD 36.4 billion takeover offer from XRG, the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in conjunction with US private equity giant Carlyle.