Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher revealed this on Wednesday announcing the company’s full-year results report.
He said that the final welds on the Darwin pipeline duplication “are underway today and, when complete, will connect the Barossa field to the Darwin LNG plant.”
“Three wells are drilled and completed. The fourth well is partially drilled and suspended for later completion. Production from these four wells can deliver nameplate capacity, materially derisking the project,” Gallagher said.
“Other work packages are progressing well and remain on track to support the first gas date,” he said.
$3.6 billion
In 2021, Santos took a final investment decision for its $3.6 billion Barossa project.
Natural gas will be extracted from the Barossa field, located in Commonwealth waters about 285 kilometers offshore north-north west from Darwin, and transported via a pipeline to the existing Darwin LNG facility.
In 2023, the last LNG cargo produced from the Bayu-Undan gas field sailed from the Santos-operated Darwin LNG plant in Australia’s Northern Territory.
The final LNG shipment from Bayu-Undan left the 3.7 mtpa Darwin LNG plant at Wickham Point on November 11, 2023.
Moreover, the Darwin LNG plant launched operations in 2006 and the facility is now being readied for the next 20 years, in preparation for the start of Barossa gas production.
To prepare for Barossa gas, Santos is working on the Darwin LNG life extension project.
Gallagher said during the earnings call later on Wendesday that the life extension project is more than 75 percent complete.
He said that the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit is on track for RFSU (ready for start up) in the third quarter of 2025.
He participated in the FPSO naming ceremony in Singapore last weekend.
Results
Santos reported a net profit after tax of $1.2 billion, an underlying profit of $1.2 billion, and a sales revenue of $5.4 billion in 2024.
Also, the company reported free cash flow from operations of $1.9 billion and annual production of 87.1 mmboe.
Santos will pay a final dividend of $10.3 cents per share, unfranked.
This brings full-year dividends to $23.3 cents per share unfranked, representing 40 percent of free cash flow from operations in line with the company’s dividend policy, it said.
