Santos, Barossa partners to invest millions

Santos and its joint venture partners will invest millions of dollars in Aboriginal communities, in the aftermath of the legal action involving its $U4.7 billion Barossa project.

The oil and gas company announced a $A10 million investment in Northern Territory coastal Aboriginal communities and homelands.

The investments from the Barossa Aboriginal Future Fund will be made by Santos and its joint venture partners in the Barossa gas project, including Kaefer.

In its statement, Santos said the investments would be aimed at improving community and infrastructure, deliver programs to maintain cultural practices, and establish pathway to jobs.

A second fund will be established from the start of production scheduled for 2025, for the life of the Barossa gas project, Santos today announced.

The fund will reportedly involve up to $A110 million over the duration of the project.

Santos chief executive officer and managing director Kevin Gallagher said the sharing the benefits of projects, including Barossa, was a step towards closing the gap.

“Training, education and good jobs are a universal foundation for human progress,” he said.

“They are the building blocks for individual social and economic empowerment, and just as importantly, for stronger, more resilient families and communities.

“The Barossa gas and Darwin LNG (DLNG) life extension projects are already training and employing Aboriginal Territorians, and we plan to do much more, including through Santos and DLNG’s recent announcement of a new jobs program with KAEFER, our valued partner providing scaffolding, mechanical and fabric maintenance services for the DLNG plant.

“This program has already been a resounding success with over 90 applicants to date.

“Fifteen Aboriginal trainees and apprentices will start with KAEFER at the end of February with a second group to commence in the May/June period later this year.”

In January, the federal court lifted an injunction to stop works on the Barossa gas project pipeline.

The project is in the Barossa Field of the Timor Sea, about 300km off the coast of Darwin and 138km north of the Tiwi Islands.

Tiwi Islander Simon Munkara, represented by the Environmental Defenders Office, launched a legal action against Santos and alleged the 262km gas export pipeline would impact Tiwi cultural heritage and create environmental risks.

A partial injunction was granted in November, for all works to be stopped except for an area about 75 kilometres north of the Tiwi Islands, with 86km section of the pipeline exempted from the sanction.

However, Federal Court judge Natalie Charlesworth lifted the injunction in mid-January after deliberating over witnesses’ and experts’ testimonies.

In her judgment, Justice Charlesworth said she was not satisfied there was an environmental risk to the tangible cultural heritage Tiwi Islanders claim would be affected by the gas pipeline being constructed over the Timor Sea.

Santos has also estimated a $450 million capital expenditure blowout from the delays caused by the court action to stop the Barossa project.