October 17, 2024 [Argus Media]- Australian independent Santos has commissioned its 1.7mn t/yr Moomba carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the onshore Cooper basin of South Australia state, the firm said in its July-September results.
The Australian carbon credit unit (ACCU)-generating project is running at full injection rates of up to 84mn ft³/d (2.38mn m³/d) of CO2 with all five wells on line, Santos said, adding that the full 1.7mn t/yr capacity would depend on Cooper basin gas production.
The CCS will be Australia’s second largest by nameplate capacity after Chevron’s controversial 4mn t/yr Gorgon CCS on Barrow Island, which has been criticised for failing to reach its sequestration goals because of issues with the pressure management system.
Santos reported July-September output 3pc down from 22.2mn bl of oil equivalent (boe) in the previous quarter to 21.6mn boe. This was primarily because of planned maintenance at amine trains at its Varanus Island plant and natural field decline in Western Australia state.
Condensate production fell by 97pc from 329,100 bl to 9,000 bl for the quarter because of field decline and shutdown at the Ningaloo Vision floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) because of a subsea communications fault, expected to return to service in early to mid October-December quarter.
Santos completed decommissioning of 13 wells within the Harriet joint venture and three of 11 wells in the Mutineer, Exeter, Fletcher and Finucane fields.
The 7.8mn t/yr Gladstone LNG shipped 21 cargoes for the quarter, one less than a year and quarter earlier. LNG production was similar to the previous quarter because of seasonal shaping to meet domestic winter gas requirements. Growth is expected in October-December owing to new wells from Arcadia and Roma fields.
Angore field in Papua New Guinea is being commissioned and will start production of about 350mn ft³/d in October-December, Santos said, in line with previous guidance. The Barossa backfill project offshore northern Australia is 82pc complete with FPSO integration continuing in Singapore and three of six wells completed. Santos’ Pikka phase one project is 67pc complete, with Alaskan authorities approving a 25pc increase in the acreage in September. But the project’s costs would increase by about 20pc, or around $520mn from the original $2.6bn estimate, because of inflation and accelerated pipelay activity costs, Santos said. This would take the cost of Pikka, which was sanctioned in mid-2022 to $3.12bn. Santos controls 51pc and Spanish energy firm Repsol owns 49pc of the asset.
Santos expects its 2024 production to be at the upper end of its guidance of 84mn-90mn boe.
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