Santos has been given the green light to start drilling in the Timor Sea, although the Barossa project’s gas pipeline is still the subject of a court dispute.
A group of Tiwi Islands traditional owners last year won a federal court bid to throw out the drilling approval at the multimillion-dollar gas field 265km northwest of Darwin.
The court ordered Santos to resubmit an environmental plan to the regulator, which properly consulted with Tiwi traditional owners.
The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Nopsema) accepted the revised drilling plan late Friday.
“Santos has conducted further extensive consultation with people of Tiwi Island and other relevant persons in accordance with the applicable regulations,” the gas giant said on Monday.
While Santos can technically begin the drilling portion of the project, the validity of the gas pipeline is still being debated in federal court.
Tiwi Islander Simon Munkara lodged a challenge to the pipeline plans days before work was due to start in October, saying it would damage sealand and singing lines.
Munkara argues Santos has not properly assessed the underwater cultural heritage along the route of its Barossa export pipeline, which runs within 7km of Bathurst Island.
The company plans to extract natural gas from the Barossa field and transport it through pipelines to an existing liquefied natural gas plant in the Northern Territory.
Santos had hoped to start laying the pipeline in November to keep the project on track for its first gas target in 2025 while waiting for Nopsema to approve the updated environmental plan for the drilling activity.
The new order, which is in effect until mid-January, allows Santos to work on the pipeline in an area about 75 km north of the Tiwi Islands and further away.
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Munkara argues the pipeline poses a significant new impact or risk to Tiwi underwater cultural heritage that was not assessed in Santos’ original environmental plan for the pipeline approved by Nopsema.
If a significant new impact or risk arises, the law requires a titleholder to submit a proposed revision of an environmental plan to the regulator for approval before work can proceed.
The drilling approval comes as Santos confirms he is in talks with Woodside Energy on a potential $80 billion merger.
Woodside’s $16.5 billion Scarborough gas project in Western Australia has also been delayed, with some parts of the project still awaiting regulatory approvals.
