BW Opal FPSO Arrives to Santos' Barossa Gas Field off Australia
June 19, 2025
BW Opal floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, operated by BW Offshore, has arrived at Santos’ Barossa gas field, marking a critical milestone on the path to first gas in the third quarter of 2025.
Since its arrival, on June 15, 2025, the FPSO has since been hooked up, and final commissioning activities are progressing to plan.
The FPSO is the production centerpiece of Santos’ Barossa LNG project. Santos and its joint venture partners, SK E&S and JERA Co., have invested $3.95 billion on the Barossa LNG project to date, which is now in the final stages of commissioning.
Five wells of the six-well program have now been drilled with the fifth well being prepared for flow testing.
The final well is expected to be completed in the third quarter. Production from three wells can deliver full production rates at the Darwin LNG plant if required.
The 262 km Gas Export Pipeline and 123 km Darwin Pipeline Duplication are complete, in addition to subsea infrastructure required for first gas, Santos informed.
“The arrival of the BW Opal FPSO into the Barossa field and commencement of hook up and commissioning is a significant milestone for Santos and its Barossa LNG joint venture partners.
“The project has come a long way since regulator acceptance of the Offshore Project Proposal in 2018. The project remains on track for first gas in the third quarter of 2025, and within the original cost guidance, which is a remarkable achievement.
“Barossa is a world class asset and, together with the Pikka phase one project in Alaska, is expected to deliver a 30 per cent increase in production over the next eighteen months or so compared to 2024. These projects will set the company up with long-term, stable cash flows to underpin compelling shareholder returns,” said Kevin Gallagher, Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.
The Barossa LNG project will deliver reliable energy for the next decade and beyond that supports energy security, national security and our partners’ emissions reduction plans across the Asia region.
As previously announced, Santos’ equity share of Barossa LNG is largely contracted as a part of Santos’ portfolio of long-term and mid-term LNG sales agreements.
Santos’ portfolio of high-quality, tier-one customers includes Diamond Gas International - a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, Hokkaido Gas, Shizuoka Gas, TotalEnergies Gas & Power Asia Limited and Glencore Singapore, as well as foundation customers from GLNG and PNG LNG projects being PETRONAS, KOGAS, Osaka Gas, JERA., Sinopec (Unipec Asia Co Ltd), and CPC Corporation.
“Our agreements with tier one customers strengthen Santos’ LNG portfolio which is around 90% contracted over the next five years with strong pricing driven by the high heating value of our LNG, reliability of supply, and our proximity to growing markets in Asia and our Japanese, Korean, Malaysian and Chinese customers,” added Gallagher.
In addition, the Darwin LNG life extension (DLE) work scope, in support of the Barossa LNG project, is on track to be completed early in the third quarter of 2025, with work now 90% complete.
