Australian giant Santos has welcomed the New South Wales Independent Planning Commission’s (IPC) decision to give green light to the Narrabri Gas Project.
According to Santos, the company will accept the conditions proposed by the IPC and will now work with the Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment as it considers its recommendation to the Minister on EPBC Act approval.
Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher said that the New South Wales Government and IPC process has been comprehensive, transparent and inclusive.
“Santos is excited about the prospect of developing the Narrabri Gas Project, a 100 per cent domestic gas project that can provide the lowest cost source of gas for NSW customers,” Mr Gallagher said.
“As the economy recovers from COVID-19, game-changing projects like the Narrabri Gas Project are critical to creating jobs, driving investment, turbo-charging regional development and delivering more competitive energy prices,” Mr Gallagher added.
“This major step forward is welcome, but we must now gain the approval of the Federal Minister for the Environment under the EPBC Act as well as other subsequent approvals,” Mr Gallagher concluded.
While these approval processes are under way, Santos will commence planning for workover activities immediately on existing wells under its current exploration tenures, the company reported.
Once all approvals are in place, next to follow is a 12 to 18-month appraisal drilling program, including expansion of the water monitoring network. This appraisal will inform the final plans for the phased development of the project.
The Narrabri Gas Project has the potential to supply enough natural gas to meet up to half of NSW’s natural gas demand. There, more than one million family homes, ~33,000 businesses and ~300,000 jobs rely on natural gas as a source of energy.