SANTOS has sanctioned its US$235 million Bayu-Undan infill development drilling program to send more gas to the one train Darwin LNG facility.

Phase 3C is made up of three production wells, one subsea and two platform wells, to extend the life of the facility as sanction of the Barossa backfill field has been delayed to later this year, after an initial final investment decision date of 2020.  

The program will add over 20 million barrels of oil equivalent in gross reserves and will reduce the time the DLNG plant is offline, though the company did not say by now much.  

The three will be drilled using the Noble Tom Prosser jack-up rig and the spud of the first well is planned for the next quarter and production by the following quarter. The fields are now fully in Timor Leste waters after the maritime boundary was ratified in 2019 by Canberra and Dili.  

"We are delighted to be able to pursue an opportunity that wasn't on the table 12 months ago, which will optimise field recovery, extend production and deliver significant value to both the Bayu-Undan joint venture and the people of Timor Leste," managing director Kevin Gallagher said.  

"Only through a close and constructive working relationship with the Timor Leste government and our joint venture partners have we been able to move so quickly towards our shared goal of maximising value from the Bayu-Undan field." 

Santos took a much larger share in the field, Barossa and the LNG plant last year when its buy of ConocoPhillips' Northern Australia and Timor Leste assets completed. It holds 68.4% of Bayu-Undan and DLNG, which goes down to 43.4% when its sale of a share of both assets to partner SK E&S completes. 

Source: Energy News Bulletin

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