By Stuart Condie
SYDNEY–Santos’s attempt to lay a pipeline through a gas field off Australia’s north coast has been held up after a court granted an interim injunction delaying the start of the project.
The Australian energy explorer on Thursday said that Australia’s Federal Court had granted an injunction delaying the commencement of the laying of the Barossa gas-export pipeline until Nov. 13, following allegations that the project could affect submerged sites of cultural importance to the indigenous inhabitants of the nearby Tiwi Islands.
Tiwi Islander Simon Munkara wants the court to force Santos to revise and resubmit its environmental plan for the project, the company said.
Munkara had filed proceedings on Oct. 30 and applied for an urgent injunction to prevent the company from starting work on the pipeline while the case is heard.
The court will decide on Nov. 13 whether to further extend the injunction. Santos said a pipe-laying vessel will remain in Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory, pending the decision.
The company said it will assess any impact to the project’s cost guidance and schedule if the injunction is extended.
Thursday’s decision is the latest setback for a major Australian company seeking to develop large reserves of natural gas in Australian waters that are culturally significant for indigenous groups.
In September, a judge invalidated the offshore-energy regulator’s approval for Woodside Energy to conduct blasting in a seismic survey at a big natural-gas field off Western Australia.
Santos on Thursday said that it had complied with offshore-energy regulator Nopsema’s requirements related to impacts on underwater cultural heritage places.
“Santos respects the cultural heritage of the Tiwi people and, while we appreciate there are a range of views, Santos has complied in full with the requirements,” the company said.
Write to Stuart Condie at [email protected]
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