Timor-Leste looks to grasp carbon storage revenues
The head of Timor-Leste’s national oil company has underlined the importance of carbon sequestration as a potential new revenue stream for the impoverished nation after the company signed an accord with Santos to examine partnership opportunities in carbon capture and storage.
The deal between Santos and Timor Gap, to be announced by Santos on Monday, comes amid an escalation of debate around legislation in Australia that would allow for the cross-border storage of CO2 waste. Teal MP for Mackellar Sophie Scamps last week described the bill as “an excuse to keep mining fossil fuels”.
Gas is piped to Darwin from the Bayu-Undan field in the Timor Sea but the field may in the future be used for CO2 storage.
The bill passed the House of Representatives last Thursday night but still needs to be approved by the Senate. It gives effect in Australia to amendments to the London Protocol, which allow the cross-border transfer of CO2 for storing it in geological formations beneath the seabed.
In the deal between Santos and Timor Gap, the pair agreed to explore opportunities to co-invest in carbon capture and storage projects, including at the Santos-led Bayu-Undan gas field in Timor-Leste waters. Santos has previously signed four non-binding deals with third parties for CO2 storage in the Bayu-Undan field, which it says could store more than 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
Santos is looking to develop the Bayu-Undan CCS project to help deal with carbon waste from its controversial Barossa offshore gas project in the Timor Sea, which will supply gas to the Darwin LNG project once the Bayu-Undan field runs dry. Drilling work on the CO2-heavy Barossa project is on pause after Santos was forced to redo consultation with
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