Bayu-Undan drilling results in Timor Sea to feed Darwin LNG are boost for energy firms and Timor-Este
The natural gas drilling programme in the Timor Sea to increase available feed gas for the Australian Darwin LNG export plant from the Bayu-Undan gas field joint venture has produced better than expected results for the six energy company shareholders and the tiny Asia-Pacific state of Timor-Este.
Australian LNG operator Santos boosts revenues as it pursues takeover of Oil Search for PNG LNG assets
Santos, the Australian LNG plant operator pursuing the takeover of Oil Search and its Papua New Guinea LNG assets, reported record quarterly sales revenue of US$1.07 billion and record first-half income of US$2.04Bln, up 12 percent and 22 percent respectively.
Australian LNG operator Santos and Italy’s Eni sign LNG and Timor Sea gas field carbon-capture accord
Australian LNG plant operator Santos and Italian oil and gas company Eni have signed an accord to cooperate on liquefied natural gas and other opportunities in northern Australia and in and around the former Portuguese colony of East Timor, now known as Timor-Leste.
“The areas of cooperation include assessing the synergies of sharing possible infrastructures associated with gas field developments around Barossa and Evans Shoal, the pipeline to Darwin and onshore associated gas processing leading to LNG expansion developments,” said a joint statement.
Other areas of Eni-Santos cooperation include the possible development of the Petrel and Tern gas fields through Blacktip-Yelcherr gas plant facilities.
“As I said when I was in Darwin to announce our FID decision for Barossa, we have approval for two more Trains at Darwin LNG and we are open to third-party gas opportunities,” said Santos Chief Executive Kevin Gallagher.
Their memorandum of understanding (MOU) includes investigating options to re-purpose the Bayu-Undan gas field facilities in the Timor Sea to extend the life of the project, including a carbon-capture and storage venture, subject to the agreement of the Timor-Leste government.
Gallagher said the MOU built on the momentum for the development plans for northern Australia following the final investment decision taken by Santos on the Barossa gas and condensate project to give a life extension to the Darwin LNG for the next 20 years.
Santos now operates the Darwin plant, as well as the Gladstone LNG facility in Queensland, after acquiring the North Australian assets of US major ConocoPhillips.
“Eni are already a highly valued partner in the Bayu-Undan project and this MOU strengthens our collaboration and cooperation,” added Gallagher.
“CCS opportunities at Bayu-Undan are extremely exciting for Santos and Eni and today we are saying, we would like to be open for business to take your CO2,” declared the Santos CEO.
“In 2019 the London Convention was amended to allow CO2 to be transported across jurisdictions to enable the establishment of storage hubs,” Gallagher explained.
“The CCS project at Bayu-Undan could provide a new job-creating and revenue-generating industry for Timor-Leste with quality carbon credits increasing in both demand and value internationally,” added the statement.
The CCS facility could capture and store CO2 from industries in Australia’s Northern Territory and help it meet its net-zero emissions by the 2050 target date.
“That’s good for the environment, good for local jobs, good for local investment and good for regional development,” stated Gallagher
Australia's Santos signs long-term JKM-priced deal with Mitsubishi for LNG from Barossa project
Australian LNG plant operator Santos has signed a binding long-term LNG supply and purchase agreement (SPA) for the Barossa gas project with Mitsubishi Corp., the prominent Japanese sector player with stakes in the US Cameron LNG plant in Louisiana and LNG Canada in British Columbia.
US Freeport LNG export project in Texas confirms final investment decision delayed until 2021
The US Freeport LNG plant at Quintana Island in Texas has delayed its final investment decision on building a fourth Train until 2021 because of the depressed energy markets and low prices and demand.
LNG operator Santos gains price cut to complete purchase of Australian assets of ConocoPhillips
Australian LNG operator Santos has completed the acquisition of the northern Australia and Timor-Leste assets of US major ConocoPhillips for a reduced purchase price of US$1.265 billion because of the oil price slump.
Delayed Freeport LNG project in Texas finally starts commissioning of first production Train
Engineering firms McDermott International and partners Chiyoda Corp. of Japan and the US Zachry Group said the first liquefaction Train at the Freeport LNG project on Quintana Island in Texas has reached the final commissioning stage.
This includes the introduction of feed gas into Train 1 of the natural gas import facility that is being transformed into a liquefaction and LNG export plant after several project delays.
“We are extremely proud of the Freeport LNG project team for reaching this major milestone at this unique LNG production facility,” said Mark Coscio, McDermott's Senior Vice President for North, Central and South America.
“First of its kind in the US, with the largest electric-motor driven refrigeration compressors, the Freeport LNG facility will significantly improve the energy export capabilities we have in the US, and McDermott is pleased to be part of its development from the ground up,” added Coscio.
Once Train 1 is fully operational, it will have the capacity to produce more than 5 million tonnes of LNG per annum.
Zachry Group, as the joint venture lead, engaged McDermott for the Pre-FEED in 2011, followed by FEED works to support the early development stage of the project.
Later Chiyoda joined the partnership and the joint team provided engineering, procurement and facility construction as well as commissioning and initial operations for the project.
It includes three liquefaction Trains with 15 MTPA of capacity, a second loading berth and a 165,000 cubic metres full containment LNG storage tank.
The orginal Freeport terminal was completed in 2008 with one berth and two storage tanks, each of 160,000 cubic metres capacity.
The Freeport project is led by oil and gas entrepreneur Michael Smith, who is Chairman and Chief Executive of the development company.
Freeport received regulatory approval in 2019 to build an additional Train 4 and permits from the US Department of Energy for the export of Train 4 volumes to Non-Free Trade Agreement countries, opening the way for marketing.
The Freeport Train 4 will take overall output to 20 MTPA. About 13.5 MTPA of this capacity has been contracted under 20-year tolling agreements to Japanese utilities Osaka Gas and JERA Co. Inc., BP of the UK, South Korea’s SK E&S, while a fifth deal with Toshiba Corp. was off-loaded in June 2019 by the troubled Japanese company to French energy major Total.
There is also a sixth deal, a sales agreement for 500,000 tonnes per annum contracted to international commodities firm Trafigura in the form of a three-year accord starting in 2020.
