THE Barossa project has taken another step towards final investment decision after ConocoPhillips awarded a contract for a floating production storage and offloading vessel to Modec International.

The FPSO contract is the project's biggest - comprising engineering, procurement of materials, equipment and services, construction, installation, commissioning and testing of the facility.  

Santos holds a 25% interest in the Barossa joint venture along with partner and operator ConocoPhillips (37.5%) and SK E&S (37.5%). 

Barossa has been earmarked as backfill for the Darwin LNG plant as the Bayu-Undan field is set to go into decline early next decade.  

The field is 300 kilometres north of Darwin in petroleum permit NT/RL5  in Commonwealth waters offshore the Northern Territory.   

The core long-life project is nearing the end of its front-end engineering phase and includes the FPSO facility, subsea wells and production system, and a gas export pipeline.  

The 260km pipeline will transport gas and will be tied into the existing Bayu-Darwin pipeline, to be turned into LNG and exported.   

The FPSO will also store condensate for periodic offloading tankers.  

"This contract with Modec is the result of a FEED competition and its award is our biggest step towards pushing the button on the development of Barossa." Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher said.  

"The project is technically and commercially robust, and we are closing in on FID early in the new year, with contracts for the subsea umbilicals, flowlines and drilling of six subsea production wells to be awarded in the near future." 

"The Barossa Project will provide a new source of gas to Darwin LNG when the current offshore gas supply from Bayu-Undan is exhausted," ConocoPhillips said in a statement.

Source: Energy News Bulletin

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