(Reuters) – Australian natural gas major Santos said on Tuesday it will collaborate with a regulator in Timor-Leste to develop carbon capture facilities at its Bayu-Undan joint venture, as part of its goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2040.
Santos, which earlier this month sealed the deal to buy Oil Search, will work with petroleum and minerals regulator Autoridade Nacional do Petróleo e Minerais (ANPM) to repurpose and develop existing Bayu-Undan facilities and reservoir for carbon capture storage (CCS).
“(The) CCS at Bayu-Undan has (a) potential capacity to safely and permanently store about 10 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide,” Santos Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher said in a statement.
Santos had said in May it was considering converting the Bayu-Undan facilities for CCS as part of its objective to achieve net zero status by 2040.
The company owns a 43.4% operating interest in Bayu-Undan facility in the Timor Sea. A unit of South Korean petroleum firm SK Inc, Italy’s Eni, Japanese oil company INPEX Corp, and Tokyo Timor Sea Resources hold the rest of the stake.
CCS technology transports carbon dioxide from where it is emitted and stores it at a site to prevent its release into the atmosphere. However, this is seen by green groups as untested and unnecessarily prolonging the life of the fossil fuel industry.
(Reporting by Yamini C S in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
