Darwin’s status as a fast-surfacing gas export hub gathered momentum as revelations emerged that Santos Ltd. was in talks with ConocoPhillips and Inpex Corp. to supply feedstock to its LNG plants in the Northern Territory capital.

This development emerged just days after Santos and GDF Suez S.A. announced that they would investigate alternative options—including pipelines—to develop Bonaparte LNG from the Petrel, Tern and Frigate gas fields about 250km west of Darwin. The JV said pre-front end-engineering and design (FEED) studies for the fully-appraised fields had indicated that FLNG did not meet commercial requirements and, consequently, would not be taken into the FEED phase.

The Australian reported that Bonaparte LNG may not be the only gas from Santos’ offshore treasure trove destined for Darwin as the company was also considering piping gas from its Browse fields to the Northern Territory.

The Adelaide-based oil and gas producer is drilling the Lasseter-1 well in the Browse field, offshore Western Australia. Lasseter-1 is conveniently located between ConocoPhillips’ Poseidon gas field and the Inpex-operated Ichthys gas and condensate field, which will pipe its harvest 890 km to the Inpex LNG plant for processing. That plant is currently under construction in Darwin.

The latest revelations that Santos will consider a tie-in to the Ichthys pipeline from its Browse field assets are likely to cause more red faces in the Western Australian parliament.

The Browse Basin and the Ichthys-project are both tetchy issues in Perth dating back to Inpex’s decision to pipe gas that was originally planned for processing in WA—before being hamstrung by tax royalties and native title deed deadlock—to the Top End.

This occurred towards the end of the reign of WA’s previous state government, under Alan Carpenter, and led to current Premier Colin Barnett declaring that Ichthys’ diversion to Darwin would “never have happened on our watch”.

Last year, however, history repeated itself with a different cast of characters as Woodside and Shell pulled the plug on the protest-plagued, budget blown-out James Price Point onshore LNG plant north of Broome in favour of offshore FLNG processing facilities above the Brecknock, Calliance and Torosa fields, situated about 425 km off the WA coast.

Barnett had personally taken the Browse Project portfolio under his wing. The WA Premier was not immediately available for comment to Oil and Gas Investor Australia on Santos’ decision to consider Darwin as a destination for its Browse Basin resources.

The Western Australian coastline is about half the distance from the Browse Basin in comparison to its location to Darwin.

Last week Santos and Inpex were awarded an 83 square-km exploration block, WA-504-P, in the Browse Basin northwest of the Ichthys field and 500 km north-northeast of Broome.

Santos, as operator, is a 60 per cent stakeholder of the permit with Inpex holding the remaining 40 per cent of a permit that lies in water depths of 400m.

Santos holds an 11.5 per cent interest in ConocoPhillips Darwin LNG plant, while Inpex has a 20 per cent stake in Santos’ Crown and Lasseter prospects.

Dale Granger can be reached at dgranger@hartenergy.com.