Santos’ Barossa LNG emissions create major risks for shareholders

Santos’ Barossa LNG emissions create major risks for shareholders

Santos' proposed offshore Barossa gas field development off Australia's Northern Territory has the unfriendly tag of having more carbon dioxide than any gas currently made into liquefied natural gas (LNG), finds a new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

The gas contains so much carbon dioxide (CO2) that most of it will have to be separated and vented offshore to meet the requirements of the Darwin LNG plant it will be piped to.

“Barossa gas has three times the CO2 content that the Darwin LNG plant facility can handle,” says report author and LNG industry expert John Robert.

“When the venting and combustion emissions both off- and on-shore are calculated, the Barossa to Darwin LNG project looks more like a CO2 emissions factory with an LNG by-product. The unprecedented scale of the Barossa emissions relative to the LNG production creates major risks for shareholders.”

Robert examines the proposed Barossa development in his new report, Should Santos' Proposed Barossa Gas ‘Backfill' for the Darwin LNG Facility Proceed to Development? and finds it will be both a major financial and climate risk if developed.

The Barossa gas field's major owner and operator Santos and its equity partner South Korea's SK E&S