Santos NSW

Monthly Activities Update

April 2025

Welcome to the April issue of our Monthly Activities Update for NSW.

The four advisory groups for the Narrabri Gas Project (NGP) met this month. The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Group, the Biodiversity Advisory Group, the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Advisory Group and the Water Technical Advisory Group provide a forum for open dialogue between Santos, independent experts, key stakeholder groups and the local community.

Read on to find out what’s been happening in our NSW project areas this month.

Narrabri Gas

Natural gas is an essential part of NSW’s energy mix, and its ongoing production is required to ensure safe, reliable and affordable energy well into the future. Santos has committed 100 per cent of gas from its NGP to the domestic market. Once completed, the project is expected to supply up to half of the state’s natural gas needs, delivering energy security for the region and putting downward pressure on gas and electricity prices for households, manufacturers and businesses.

Update: Narrabri Gas Project

The NGP involves the development and production of natural gas near Narrabri and around the Pilliga. The initial stages of the project involved the development of appraisal wells which are already delivering gas to the Wilga Park Power Station.

The Wilga Park Power Station has an electricity generation capacity of 22 megawatts, enough to power 32,000 households across northwest NSW. Production this month has been steady.

Santos remains focused on identifying and implementing strategies to achieve net-zero reservoir emissions for the NGP. These do not include the development of a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project in New South Wales because no suitable sites have been identified and there is currently no regulatory framework in NSW for CCS.

CCS is a critical component of Santos’ decarbonisation strategy, including the Moomba CCS project in South Australia which came online in late 2024. Moomba CCS is regulated by the South Australian Department of Energy and Mining, and Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator. Our Moomba project is the country’s first large-scale onshore hub for the capture and geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2). This project can store up to 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 per year, depending on availability of CO2. To give you some perspective on the scale of impact this project will have, it is storing more CO2 every four days than 10,000 electric vehicles avoid in one year.

Santos will comply with Australia’s Safeguard Mechanism, the conditions of our project approvals and pursue our own emissions reduction targets. We continue to explore the most effective pathways to achieve our obligations.

If you would like more information about any of these activities, please contact our team via email at Energy.NSW@santos.com or give us a call on (02) 6790 9235. You can also visit the NGP website.

Drilling activities

There are no drilling activities planned at this time.

Pilot wells

Bibblewindi East, Bibblewindi West and Dewhurst South, Tintsfield and Kahlua 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

Wilga Park Power Station is online.

Other activities

Groundwater monitoring activities for Environmental Protection Licence compliance are ongoing. Santos completed drilling a groundwater corehole in late April to acquire permeability data.

PEL 1

Kahlua pilot wells are online. To view the approval, please click here.

Hunter Gas Pipeline and Narrabri Lateral Pipeline Activities

Hunter Gas Pipeline

Santos is proposing to deliver natural gas from Narrabri to the east coast domestic market via two pipelines – the Hunter Gas Pipeline (HGP) and the Narrabri Lateral Pipeline (NLP).

These underground pipelines will transport natural gas from Narrabri to Hexham – a distance of approximately 400km. To finalise the pipeline’s exact location, we are seeking feedback from landholders along the proposed route to consider their preferences, as well as any technical, environmental, and cultural heritage factors.

Survey activities are ongoing on both public and private land to confirm the alignment. Our land access team continues to liaise with landholders to discuss the alignment and negotiate survey and deed of option agreements. We encourage landholders to engage with our team to address any feedback, questions or concerns. Landholders can contact us at any time on 1300 427 546 or via email at info@huntergaspipeline.com.au.

For more information, please visit the HGP website.

Narrabri Lateral Pipeline

Santos is progressing plans for the underground NLP, which will connect the NGP to the HGP. This pipeline will provide the ‘missing link’ between the NGP and HGP, enabling the transmission of natural gas to the existing transmission network near Newcastle.

We are currently finalising the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the NLP project.

Community Consultation

Our community consultation sessions offer landholders, stakeholders and community members the opportunity to engage directly with key Santos staff about the HGP, NLP, or any other Santos activities in NSW. These sessions are vital to our commitment to transparency and collaboration with the communities where we live and work. The feedback we receive plays a vital role in shaping our decisions and outcomes.

If you missed last month’s community consultation sessions, don't worry—you can still connect with us. Our project team is available by phone or email to discuss our work in your area – feel free to call us on (02) 6790 9235 or email Energy.NSW@santos.com. We’re happy to meet and discuss any questions you may have.

Santos has been a proud supporter of the Narrabri Show for more than a decade. Each year, our local team is on the ground and available to discuss our operations in the local area, including the NGP, HGP and NLP.

This year’s show will be held on Saturday 3 May. We’ll be near the cattle arena so drop by and say hello. While you’re there, why don’t you test your knowledge with our quiz to be in the running for a Weber Baby Q.

See you at the show!

Community Consultative Committee and Advisory Groups

A condition of the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) consent for the NGP is the establishment and operation of a Community Consultative Committee (CCC) and Advisory Groups in accordance with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment Community Consultative Committee Guideline: State Significant Projects.

Mr. Garry West was appointed to the position of Independent Chair of the CCC and Advisory Groups.

The purpose of a CCC is to provide a forum for discussion between a proponent and representatives of the community, stakeholder groups and local councils on issues directly relating to a specific state significant project.

The next Narrabri Gas Project Community Consultative Committee meeting will be held on Tuesday 17 June 2025.

NGP CCC Minutes are available here

The Advisory Groups include:  

Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Group 
Biodiversity Advisory Group 
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Advisory Group 
Water Technical Advisory Group

Advisory group meetings were held Tuesday 29 April and Wednesday 30 April 2025.

Minutes from advisory group meetings are available here.

Community Partnerships

Aboriginal Elders Olympics - creating stronger communities

Image: Aboriginal Elders Olympics - community, culture, connection, and friendly competition

Santos was proud to sponsor the Inverell Bear Eaters who recently hosted the Aboriginal Elders Olympics held on Kamilaroi (Gomeroi) Country (Inverell, NSW). It was an incredibly uplifting community event, enriched with culture and connection, and a touch of friendly competition too!

The day of fun brought together more than 380 Elders, community members and supporters competing in games like quoits, shooting hoops, pass the footy and hockey stick relay.

Shining a light on Aboriginal culture and the work of local community service providers, this event showcases the importance of working together and building respectful relationships to improve health and wellbeing outcomes.

2025 Country Universities Centre North West bursary presentation

Image: Local students receive bursary support thanks to Santos' partnership with Country Universities Centre North West

Our partnership with the Country Universities Centre (CUC) North West is helping to drive sustainable change. People who live in regional areas are less than half as likely to gain a bachelor qualification compared to their metropolitan counterparts. The CUC model is designed and developed by regional people for regional people to create equitable access to higher education through student support and outreach activities.

This month, we were proud to award thirteen ambitious students with $1,500 bursaries to assist with equipment costs incurred as part of their study. This financial support will enable recipients to pursue their educational goals while driving positive social outcomes within their local community and beyond.

These students are focused on building community resilience through initiatives like better disaster management, improved regional healthcare, sustainable business practices and much more – right here in their own backyard. This support not only helps individual students gain valuable skills but also helps retain a skilled workforce in the regions.

We can’t wait to see what they achieve in coming years!