Santos Closer to Shipping LNG From $4.5 Billion Barossa Field

image is BloomburgMedia_T5E80NT96OSG00_10-11-2025_05-26-45_638983296000000000.jpg

A Santos Ltd. pilot well operates on a farm property in Narrabri, Australia, on Thursday, May 25, 2017. A decade after the shale revolution transformed the U.S. energy landscape, Australia — poised to overtake Qatar as the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas — is experiencing its own quandary over natural gas. Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

Santos Ltd. signaled progress toward shipping the first liquefied natural gas cargo from its $4.5 billion Barossa field off northern Australia, a project that counts as a cornerstone asset for the company.

The shipments could begin in the next few weeks, Sean Pitt, executive vice president for marketing, trading and shipping, said during a speech on Saturday at the China International Oil and Gas Trade Congress in Shanghai.

Santos — a major supplier of LNG to Asian buyers — trimmed its natural gas production outlook last month after an unplanned two-week shutdown at Barossa, which only recently started production.

The Barossa project includes a 262-kilometer (163-mile) undersea pipeline and will deliver as much as 3.7 million tons of LNG a year, or about 4% of Australia’s total export capacity. Santos operates and owns half of Barossa, with the rest held by South Korea’s SK Innovation E&S and Japan’s Jera Co.

Santos is under increased scrutiny following the collapse of a $19 billion takeover approach from a group led by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., piling pressure on the Adelaide-based company to boost shareholder returns.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

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