ConocoPhillips has discarded the possibility to develop the Barrosa gas field in the Bonaparte Basin via an FLNG facility in its offshore project proposal, deeming it uneconomic due to its high capital cost.
The company, on behalf of its co-venturers SK E&S and Santos, proposed to develop the hydrocarbon resources in the Barossa area development located in Australian Commonwealth waters within the Bonaparte Basin, approximately 300 kilometers north of Darwin, Northern Territory.
The proposal includes a permanently moored FPSO facility, subsea production system, supporting in-field subsea infrastructure in the Barossa field and a subsea gas export pipeline.
The FPSO facility will separate the natural gas and condensate extracted from the field with the condensate exported directly from the FPSO facility to offtake tankers in the Barossa offshore development area and the dry gas transported via a subsea gas export pipeline for onshore processing.
It is proposed to connect the new subsea gas export pipeline to the existing Bayu-Undan to Darwin gas export pipeline which feeds the onshore Darwin LNG facility. Gas from the Barossa field would replace the existing supply from the Bayu-Undan field following its anticipated depletion in 2022.
In its OPP, ConocoPhillips noted that the FLNG development concept was deemed uneconomic early in the project selection process due to its high capital cost relative to options utilizing existing infrastructure.
The construction of new liquefaction facilities needed with the FLNG option added multiple billions of dollars to the development compared to the FPSO facility option, that provides the opportunity to utilize existing infrastructure.
The development concept proposed in the OPP would enable the project to produce approximately 3.7 million tons per annum of LNG and 1.5 million barrels per year of condensate.
The life of the project is expected to be approximately 20 years from first gas, which is targeted for 2023.
Australia’s National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) invited public comments on ConocoPhillips’s offshore project proposal for the development of the Barossa field in the Bonaparte Basin.
NOPSEMA’s statement shows the public comment period will be open for eight weeks ending on September 6.