RE: POODS9 Mar 2026 20:35
Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher has his eye on the Beetaloo Basin in the remote Barkly region of the NT to reinforce Darwin LNG’s future, supply domestic customers and potentially Santos’ GLNG export venture in Queensland.
“This is a gas resource that could be a game changer for a company, for the Northern Territory and for Australia,” Gallagher said. “And its scale will fulfil domestic and LNG markets here and on the east coast for decades.”
The resumption of exports from Darwin LNG using Barossa gas comes as global oil and gas markets have been hit by turmoil from the outbreak of war across the Middle East, which has disrupted supplies from the world’s original oil and gas powerhouse.
The suspension of LNG production last week by Qatar, second only to the United States in global export rankings, has in one stroke eliminated about one-fifth of world supply of the super-chilled gas, widely regarded as critical to support the transition to low-carbon energy.
“It really highlights the importance of Beetaloo to the Asian region – it couldn’t be more stark,” Santos chairman Keith Spence told the evening gathering, which was attended by its two Barossa equity partners: South Korea’s SK E&S and JERA, the world’s biggest LNG importer, involving Chubu Electric Power and Tokyo Electric Power.