June 20, 2025 [Reuters]- Santos said on Wednesday it had progressed its Barossa LNG project towards final commissioning activities following the arrival and deployment of a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel at the Barossa gas field.

Five wells of the six-well programme have now been drilled, with the final well expected to be completed in the third quarter, Australia’s no. 2 independent gas producer said in a statement.

The project, in which Santos and its joint venture partners, SK E&S and JERA Co, have invested $3.95 billion so far, remains on track for first gas in the third quarter of 2025, Santos said.

The Barossa project, together with the Pikka Phase 1 project in Alaska, is expected to deliver a 30% increase in production for Santos in the next 18 months compared to 2024, the company said.

The Barossa project aims to supply natural gas from the field to Santos’ Darwin LNG facility in Australia’s Northern Territory.

The progress update comes on the heels of an all-cash $18.7 billion takeover bid for Santos from an international consortium led by Abu Dhabi’s National Oil Company on Monday.

With Santos in its fold, the consortium would gain control of two Australian LNG operations – Gladstone LNG and Darwin LNG, as well as stakes in PNG LNG and the undeveloped Papua LNG.