Santos’ plan to extract gas from the Timor Sea faces a formidable opponent: the traditional owners of the tiny Tiwi Islands, 2½ hours by ferry or 80 kilometres north of Darwin.

The energy giant’s Barossa project will rely on a 262-kilometre pipeline connecting the offshore gas field to the existing Bayu-Undan to Darwin pipeline. At its closest point, Bathurst Island is just 6km-7km from the gas export pipeline corridor.