Australian energy developer, Santos has announced that the Bayu-Undan joint venture (BUJV) has signed a sale and purchase deed (SPD) to transfer a 16% interest in the upstream project to Timor Gap, with an economic date of 1st July, 2024.
Execution of the SPD is planned for the middle of this month.
A seventh extension of the production sharing contract was also confirmed, taking it to the end of June, 2026.
The Bayu-Undan upstream project comprises the offshore petroleum field, and offshore production and processing facilities located in Timor-Leste.
Participants in the joint venture prior to Timor Gap’s entry were Santos, SK E&S, INPEX, Eni and Tokyo Timor Sea Resources.
The field is located around 500 km northwest of Darwin in Timor-Leste offshore waters and has been in operation since 2004.
It has provided more than $25 bill in revenue for Timor-Leste since it came online, thus far. More than half the offshore workforce is Timorese with the project currently supporting about 350 onshore and offshore jobs in Timor-Leste. Some 100% Santos’ workforce in Timor-Leste are locals.
Bayu-Undan continues to produce gas for the Australian domestic market via a gas sales agreement with the Power and Water Corp of the Northern Territory, as well as producing other liquids.
Santos Managing Director and CEO, Kevin Gallagher, said the transaction demonstrates the company’s commitment to a long-term partnership with Timor-Leste in the development of the country’s petroleum resources.
“I have long wanted to see Timor Gap as a partner of Santos and I welcome them as a participant in the Bayu-Undan joint venture,” he said.
Santos also said that it remained committed to working with Timor-Leste and the joint venture to re-purpose Bayu-Undan into a new large-scale, commercial carbon capture and storage project when petroleum production ends.
This would create an ongoing source of revenue, local jobs and business opportunities for Timor-Leste by providing carbon management services to the Asian region.
