Santos signs MoU with Timor-Leste on Bayu-Undan CCS
Australia’s Santos September 14 announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Timor-Leste regulator Autoridade Nacional do Petroleo e Minerais (ANPM) to progress carbon capture and storage (CCS) at Bayu-Undan in the Timor Sea.
Bayu-Undan joint venture and the ANPM will work together to test the viability of repurposing the existing Bayu-Undan facilities and using the reservoir for CCS, Santos said. These include sharing technical, operational and commercial information, assessing the regulatory framework, evaluating local capacity opportunities and establishing a decision timeline.
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"We believe the Bayu-Undan reservoir and facilities have the potential to be a world-leading CCS project and we are delighted to be working together with the ANPM and the Timor-Leste government to progress this opportunity,” Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher said.
Gallagher said that Bayu-Undan has the potential capacity to store approximately 10mn metric tons/year of CO2 and could build a new job-creating and revenue-generating industry for Timor-Leste. Santos had announced the final investment decision on the project in January this year. In July, the company said that production from the phase 3C infill drilling programme at the Bayu-Undan field had begun with the first well producing a better than the anticipated outcome.
"This has the potential to be a win-win; good for the environment, good for industry and opening up an exciting opportunity for the people of Timor-Leste, so we look forward to progressing this MoU in partnership with the ANPM,” Gallagher said.
ANPM president Florentino Soares Ferreira said that the MoU proves that Timor-Leste is proactively taking the lead in integrating its oil and gas sector towards its commitment of accelerating decarbonisation and meeting the UN net-zero target by 2050.
Santos has a 43.4% operated interest in Bayu-Undan. The remaining interest is held by Korea’s SK E&S (25%), Japan’s Inpex (11.4%), Italy’s Eni (11%) and Japan’s Tokyo Timor Sea Resources (9.2%).