Environmental Defenders Office given extension to hand Santos documents over LNG project

The Environmental Defenders Office has an extra week to give Santos documents related to its failed bid to block the $5.7bn LNG development.

The Environmental Defenders Office must hand over documents related to a failed bid to block Santos’ 262km pipeline in little more than a week, a Federal Court has ruled, as the oil and gas giant said it would pursue the maximum amount from the legal group.

Earlier this year, Santos secured a legal victory against the EDO, which acted for Simon Munkara who had sought an injunction against the gas giant’s plans to develop a 262km pipeline for new LNG wells in waters off the Northern Territory.

Santos is seeking to recoup damages and has said it will pursue the EDO, the legal representatives behind the effort to block the pipeline, and others it deems as de facto claimants.

The Federal Court approved a request from Santos to see all communications the EDO had pertaining to the failed claim. The EDO opposed that, saying it was simply the legal counsel and should not be liable for claims.

The EDO had until the end of August to comply, but The Australian reported how it was trying to secure an extension from Santos.

In court, lawyers for the EDO said Santos did not grant it the extension and it sought leave from the court on August 30, an application ruling, Justice Natalie Charlesworth took serious umbrage with as it amounted to a failure to comply.

But Justice Charlesworth said the EDO could have a short extension, although it was on notice that it must now comply.

The extension was granted as lawyers for Santos indicated it would pursue the entirety of an estimated $7m in legal costs known as indemnity costs. Typically around 60 to 70 per cent of costs are awarded to victors, but Santos has said it will alter its application before the court and seek the maximum amount.

The decision to seek indemnity costs underscores Santos’s determination to pursue the matter to the full extent amid frustrations about the case, which Justice Charlesworth was scathing about when she dismissed it this year.

Santos is targeting first gas from the project in the third quarter of this year, a slight delay on previous estimates after the case delayed works for several weeks, costing the company millions of dollars.

A spokeswoman for the EDO declined to comment.

Santos’s aggressive pushback appears to have altered the legal landscape. Last month, the Australian Conservation Foundation dropped its legal bid to block Woodside’s $16.5bn Scarborough LNG project in Western Australia.

In 2022, the ACF asked the Federal Court to order a suspension of work on the project until an assessment was made about its potential effect on the Great Barrier Reef. Santos said in August it could give the go-ahead for its $3.5bn Narrabri gas project in NSW as soon as next year, boosting hopes it could fill an expected supply gap later this decade, as pressure grows on regulators to green-light the major energy development.

The comments from chief executive Kevin Gallagher will add to growing urgency for Australian authorities to accelerate a decision on Narrabri.

The project could play a major role in easing Australia’s east coast gas shortfall, but it has attracted strong opposition and the federal government is wary of the political fallout.