Santos, as operator of the Bayu-Undan Joint Venture, announced it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Timor-Leste regulator Autoridade Nacional do Petróleo e Minerais (ANPM) to progress Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) at Bayu-Undan in the Timor Sea.

The MOU details the areas the Bayu-Undan Joint Venture and the ANPM, with the support of the Timor-Leste Government, will work on collaboratively to test the viability of repurposing the existing Bayu-Undan facilities and using the Bayu-Undan reservoir for CCS. These include sharing technical, operational and commercial information, assessing the regulatory framework, evaluating local capacity opportunities and establishing a decision timeline.

Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher said: “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.

“CCS is recognised by the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as being a critical technology to achieve the world’s climate goals. Santos’ experience with the globally-competitive Moomba CCS project in outback South Australia will bring invaluable experience to the project.

“CCS at Bayu-Undan has potential capacity to safely and permanently store approximately 10 million tonnes per annum of CO2 and could build a new job-creating and revenue-generating industry for Timor-Leste.

“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.”

ANPM President Florentino Soares Ferreira said: “This is a milestone for Timor-Leste. With the signing of the CCS MOU between Santos (representing its Joint Venture partners) and ANPM proves that Timor-Leste is proactively taking the lead in integrating its oil and gas sector towards Timor-Leste’s commitment of accelerating decarbonization and meeting the U.N. net zero target by 2050.

“Despite Timor-Leste being one of the lowest emission countries in the world, and that the Paris Agreement provides waiver or concession to the developing and less developed nations such as Timor-Leste; we understand that carbon trading or carbon credits market is an integral part of our future economy. We don’t want to miss this opportunity; and I believe this will become one of the largest CCS projects in the Southern Hemisphere. This will enable both Timor-Leste and Australia to exploit its untapped resources in meeting energy demands as well as offsetting its carbon emissions and transitioning towards carbon neutral economies.”

Santos has a 43.4% operated interest in Bayu-Undan. The remaining interest is held by SK E&S (25%), INPEX (11.4%), Eni (11%) and Tokyo Timor Sea Resources (9.2%).

About Santos

Santos’ corporate purpose is to provide sustainable returns for our shareholders by supplying reliable, affordable and cleaner energy to improve the lives of people in Australia and Asia.
Santos has a clear and consistent strategic framework of Transform Build Grow to deliver this vision. At the heart of this framework is a disciplined low-cost operating model that drives decisions around capital allocation and enables sustainable growth and development throughout the cycle.
Santos has been a committed participant in PNG for over 40 years and enjoys a strong working relationship with the PNG Government and its PNG LNG joint venture partners ExxonMobil, JX Nippon, Kumul, MRDC and Oil Search. Santos is supportive of the backfill and expansion of PNG LNG through the development of the P’nyang field and other opportunities. Santos also has a strong working relationship with Total through the GLNG joint venture.
Our strategic vision complements Oil Search’s disciplined three phase strategy to Focus, Deliver and Evolve. We are completely aligned regarding the need for a low-cost base and capital efficiency. We share the same aspirations for the delivery of the LNG expansion in PNG. In relation to Alaska, we would be supportive of Oil Search working towards FEED and FID as publicly announced. We are committed to ESG and measurable action on sustainability.