STO Santos Limited

   By David Winning 
 

SYDNEY--Santos Ltd. (STO.AU) said it had passed a key milestone in efforts to develop the Barossa-Caldita gas field offshore northern Australia with partners, and potentially supply two existing liquefied natural gas projects that are seen running low on gas.

Santos said Australia's offshore petroleum regulator, known as the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority, or Nopsema, had assessed the environmental impacts and risks of the Barossa-Caldita project and accepted the joint venture's proposal.

The Barossa gas field is located 300 kilometers north of Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory. U.S.-based ConocoPhillips (COP) owns 37.5% of the Barossa-Caldita joint venture, with Santos holding a 25% stake and South Korea's SK E&S the remainder.

"Acceptance of the Offshore Project Proposal gives us a level of regulatory comfort and the certainty we need to enter the Front End Engineering and Design phase in the very near future," said Santos Chief Executive Kevin Gallagher.

Santos said gas from the Barossa-Caldita project would be a leading candidate to supply the operational Darwin LNG project. It's also "the only gas supply source on track to deliver gas when Bayu Undan production ends in the early 2020s," the Adelaide-based company said.

-Write to David Winning at david.winning@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 20, 2018 21:00 ET (01:00 GMT)

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