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Narrabri Gas Project (PEL 238)
Activities Update
September 2023
Welcome to the September issue of the Narrabri Gas Project (PEL238) Monthly Activity Update for 2023. There’s been lots of exciting news and events in the Narrabri region over the past month, read on to find out what’s been happening in the Narrabri Gas Project area.
Community Investment Program Highlights
Nosh Narrabri
The biennial Nosh Narrabri food and drink festival marked a long-awaited return to the district’s calendar last month at its new home on the Narrabri Creek shared pathway.
Santos is long time sponsors of Nosh, the welcome return has been many years in the making with the fresh-faced committee delivering the return of the district’s premier food and drink festival as it did in the years before the pandemic.
Interest was high as much-loved competitions including the Nosh BBQ Cook-off, the Great Australian Cheesecake Competition and Australian Regional Homebrew Championships also marked a return to Nosh. Over 3,000 attended the festival on the Saturday and over 400 were wined and dined at the Long Lunch.
This event relies wholly on local volunteers and sponsors for its success and the continued support helps secure Nosh for years to come.
Community Engagement
50 years of AgQuip
The 50th anniversary of AgQuip was celebrated in Gunnedah last month, with over 100,000 people attending from across Australia.
As the largest agriculture event in the Southern Hemisphere, this 3 day event provides a crucial platform for community interaction allowing opportunities for coverage of present and future activities within the region.
A large part of this achievement can be attributed to the array of technical experts that manned our stall over the three days, allowing us to cover everything related to geology, drilling, operations, land access and community across all of our NSW projects.
Hunter Gas Pipeline and Narrabri Lateral Pipeline community drop-in sessions
In October, Santos is hosting community information sessions for landholders, key stakeholders and community members to discuss the Hunter Gas Pipeline, Narrabri Lateral Pipeline and any other Santos projects that may be of interest. Session details can be found here.
Operations Update
Drilling activities
Santos continues to drill shallow water monitoring bores in accordance with project approvals.
Santos will continue the workover program through Q3 and Q4 2023.
Pilot wells
Bibblewindi East, Bibblewindi West and Dewhurst South and Tintsfield wells are online.
Leewood
Santos does not need to irrigate at this time and water is stored in the holding ponds at Leewood.
Wilga Park Power Station
The Wilga Park Power Station is online.
Other activities
Groundwater monitoring activities for Environmental Protection Licence compliance are ongoing.
Ecological surveys are underway to support the NGP, HGP and NLP projects.
As the previous operator of petroleum exploration licence (PEL) 456, Santos is required to undertake decommissioning works to finalise the rehabilitation of the Brawboy 2 well. These activities are proposed to occur before the end of 2023 and will take approximately two weeks to complete and will be undertaken in accordance with strict regulatory requirements to ensure the safe abandonment of our infrastructure.
PEL 1
In accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021, on 12 January 2023, Santos lodged with the NSW Resources Regulator an application to conduct exploration activities for assessable prospecting operations, PEL 1 – Kahlua Pilot Reactivation including a Review of Environmental Factors.
This application has been reviewed and approved by the NSW Resources Regulator. To view the approval, please click here.
The approved activities are scheduled to be undertaken in the coming month.
Community Consultation
Community Consultative Committee
A condition of the IPC consent for the Narrabri Gas Project is the establishment and operation of a Community Consultative Committee in accordance with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment's (DPE) Community Consultative Committee Guidelines: State Significant Projects. DPE has appointed Mr Garry West to the position of Independent Chair of the committee.
The purpose of a Community Consultative Committee is to provide a forum for discussion between a proponent and representatives of the community, stakeholder groups and the local council on issues directly relating to a specific State significant project.
The next meeting of the Narrabri Gas Project Community Consultative Committee will be held on Tuesday 5th December, 2023.
NGP Advisory Groups
A condition of the IPC consent for the Narrabri Gas Project is the establishment and operation of a number of advisory groups. The NSW Department of Planning and Environment has appointed Mr Garry West to the position of Independent Chair of these Advisory Groups.
These groups provide a forum for open dialogue between Santos, independent experts, key stakeholder groups and the local community.
- Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Group
- Biodiversity Advisory Group
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions Advisory Group
- Water Technical Advisory Group
Project Approvals
NSW Government
On 30 September 2020, the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) approved the Narrabri Gas with the Commission concluding that the Project is in the public interest and that any negative impacts can be effectively mitigated with strict conditions.
Australian Government
On 24 November 2020, the Federal Minister for the Environment approved the Narrabri Gas Project pursuant to Sections 130(1) and 133(1) of the EPBC Act, subject to conditions.
Santos will undertake an appraisal program ahead of a Final Investment Decision for the next phase of project development.
Santos continues work on the preparation and approval of the management plans required as a condition of consent by IPC. Copies of plans approved by the NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment are available from the Narrabri Gas Project website.
Native Title
Santos notes the determination of the National Native Title Tribunal handed down on Monday 19 December 2022, that proposed future acts, being the grants of Petroleum Production Lease Application Numbers 13, 14, 15 and 16 for the Narrabri Gas Project, may be done. On 13 January 2023, the Gomeroi People filed an appeal in the Federal Court of Australia in respect to this determination. This appeal was recently heard in Brisbane, with a decision anticipated by the end of 2023.
Santos will continue to engage constructively with the Gomeroi people and work closely with them to ensure their heritage is protected and they benefit from the project development in a range of ways, including through training and employment, and involvement in all aspects of their cultural heritage protection and management.
Santos has a strong track record of working collaboratively with First Nations peoples in Australia and internationally.
The company has a range of cultural heritage and native title agreements in place with 23 Traditional Owner Groups and six Aboriginal Land Councils around Australia.
Santos has been consulting and working with the Gomeroi people since 2012, and in formal negotiations regarding the Narrabri Gas Project since 2015.
Narrabri natural gas is essential to ensure Australia’s energy transition to renewables and cleaner energy technologies maintains both energy security and affordability for all Australians over the coming decades.
Hunter Gas Pipeline
The Hunter Gas Pipeline (HGP) Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Santos. The proposed underground pipeline route passes close to Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project (NGP). The goal is to work with infrastructure developers and landholders to construct a pipeline that will deliver much-needed gas to the east coast domestic market in the shortest timeframe possible.
If you would like to speak to a member of the team or arrange a meeting, please call 1300 427 546.
Narrabri Lateral Pipeline
To connect the Narrabri Gas Project (NGP) to the HGP, Santos is finalising plans for the Narrabri Lateral Pipeline.
The proposed pipeline will provide the ‘missing link’ to allow for the transmission of natural gas to the existing NSW natural gas transmission network near Newcastle.
The Narrabri Lateral Pipeline SEARs can be viewed on the NSW Planning portal website here.
Engagement with Registered Aboriginal Parties
Santos is continuing to liaise with the Registered Aboriginal Parties concerning the assessment of the Narrabri Lateral Pipeline project corridor. Santos is committed to consulting with Indigenous people about the Aboriginal cultural heritage values within the proposed project area.
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