Santos Australia gets the green light on $2.3 billion Narrabri Gas Project

Santos’ A$3.6 billion (2.32 billion) Narrabri Gas Project in Australia, can proceed. A tribunal has ruled that the project is allowed to go ahead, as the increase in energy supply for the Australian market outweighs concerns about the impact on the climate or damage to Indigenous heritage sites.

The decision comes after a decade of fighting over the granting of leases to Santos, which would allow it to drill 850 wells in the northwest New South Wales area and extract coal seam gas. This area overlaps the culturally important Pilliga forest.

Local Gomeroi have been against the development. They claim that the emissions from the project will worsen climate changes, which would impact their health, lifestyle and land.

The National Native Title Tribunal, in a ruling released on Monday acknowledged that the project's impact on climate change is a "serious harm", but also said that energy security was an "important benefit" to the public and the Gomeroi.

The tribunal said that after weighing the public interest evidence and environmental evidence, it found the project to be a net benefit for the public.

The Gomeroi have been opposing the Narrabri Gas Project since it was first proposed more than a decade before. They claim they are owed exclusive native-title rights to the area. Native title in Australia is a legal doctrine that recognizes Indigenous rights over certain parcels.

Santos won approval from the tribunal for the grant in 2022. In 2024, the Federal Court reversed the decision and ordered that the environmental concerns of the Gomeroi be re-evaluated.

The tribunal announced on Monday that leases can be granted if the gas produced is used exclusively for domestic consumption and if additional cultural and environment safeguards are implemented.

Santos said that it would make its final investment decision by the end of this year. The project still requires planning approval to connect a pipeline to Australia's East Coast.

The parties didn't immediately respond to our requests for comments. Reporting by Christine Chen, Editing by Jamie Freed

(source: Reuters)