Santos to learn Barossa fate as injunction ruling set to be delivered

A looming Federal Court ruling threatens the timetable of Santos’ $5.3bn Barossa development, a project hampered by a spate of legal challenges.

A decision about an application to block Santos from laying pipelines for its $5.3 billion Barossa gas development in the Timor Sea is imminent, as an urgent Federal Court hearing on the matter was expected to run late into Wednesday night.

Lawyers for Tiwi Islands traditional owner Simon Munkura urged Federal Court judge Natalie Charlesworth to grant an injunction to stop work on the pipeline, which the court heard was due to start on Thursday.

If work is halted on the 262km underwater pipeline, it threatens the timetable of a project earmarked by the Australian energy company to fuel growth.

Barrister Fiona Batten, for the applicant Mr Munkura — who was also represented by the Environmental Defenders Office — told the court any work on the pipeline could amount to an offence because Santos has not submitted a fresh environmental plan to the offshore environment regulator in the wake of a judicial decision last year that recognised traditional owners’ connection to sea country.

“We are asking the court to adjudicate … whether there has been a significant new environmental impact or risk such that the obligation to submit a plan is triggered,” she said.

“The pipeline environmental plan in no way assessed… risks for Tiwi underwater cultural heritage.”

Ms Batten said the Tiwi Islanders had not been consulted in relation to reports or other information Santos obtained.

The court heard there are significant risks to cultural and spiritual connections to country if construction goes ahead as there are at least 60 features situated along the pipeline that are considered archaeologically significant, and a further 100 of medium significance.

There are also sacred burial grounds along the route, Ms Batten told the court, and according to evidence from Mr Munkura, the Tiwi traditional owners do not think in boundaries.

For Santos, barrister Vanessa Whittaker, told the court Mr Munkura’s case was “weak” and admonished the amount of material tendered with the court in a short amount of time after it was filed two days ago on October 30.

“If the applicant had mounted a case … it has manufactured a misconceived case that does not enjoy reasonable prospects of success,” she said.

Ms Whittaker later said Mr Munkura was attempting to “usurp” the role of the offshore environmental regulator, NOPSEMA, and “step into” its role.

“Effectively... (the applicant) is trying to use court resources to compel regulator to act in a particular way,” she said.

She also said the Environmental Defenders Office had previously confronted NOPSEMA, but they had “not taken the action” the EDO wanted.

The case is the latest chapter in a series of legal challenges where opponents have sought suspensions on the ground that environmental and heritage consultation requirements were not properly met.

Federal Court judge Natalie Charlesworth said she would not rule on the application for an injunction immediately, but a hearing on Wednesday afternoon was expected to see a decision made. The hearing continued at 7pm eastern standard time.

The Environmental Defenders Office is pushing an urgent ruling as Santos readies plans to begin laying the pipelines. Santos’ lawyer, John Waters, SC, told the court that a vessel tasked with the laying of the pipelines was poised to depart Darwin as soon as Wednesday.

But any disruption to Santos’ plans will be a blow to the South Australian-based company, which is struggling to get the Barossa project back on track.

Santos on Tuesday said it is not yet clear what impact an injunction would have on the project.

“In the event any injunction is granted, Santos will need to assess any impact on the schedule and cost of the Barossa Gas Project and will update the market accordingly,” Santos said in a statement.

Work on Santos’ Barossa gas project has been suspended since 2022 after the Federal Court found the oil giant failed to consult local Indigenous people adequately on the development.

Santos is still waiting for NOPSEMA to rule on its updated environmental plan. It cannot resume drilling until the regulator gives it the green light, but Santos has said it can only meet its production targets for first gas by early 2025 if work can resume by December 3.

Santos had hoped that by installing the pipelines, it could mitigate the threat of delays that chief executive Kevin Gallagher said is costing the company millions as it is forced to pay for a drilling vessel that remains idle.

Santos has earmarked the project as a driver of future growth. In its latest quarterly report, Santos said production rose to the equivalent of 22.8 million barrels of oil in the three months ending June 30, up 3 per cent from 22.2 million in the three months prior.

Gas produced from gas from its offshore Barossa field will be transported to its Darwin LNG plant in the Northern Territory and is then likely to flow to the lucrative export markets such as Japan. However, a looming gas shortfall across Australia’s east coast could force shipments to flow to so-called LNG import facilities being constructed in NSW and one proposed for South Australia.

Santos’ partners in Barossa are South Korean energy company SK E&S and Japan’s JERA, and successful environmental protests have led to calls from traditional allies that Australia is deliberately hampering efforts to secure energy security in the region.

Originally published as Santos to learn Barossa fate as injunction ruling set to be delivered