Beach, Santos commission Moomba carbon project

The news: A joint venture between oil and gas giant Santos and its smaller rival Beach Energy has commissioned a controversial carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at Moomba in South Australia.

The numbers: The Moomba CCS project was developed at a cost of $220 million and has the potential to store 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually in its reservoirs. Santos holds a 66.6% interest in the project, while Beach Energy holds the remaining 33.4%.

The context: Beach Energy said that all facilities, pipelines and injector wells for the project have been commissioned and brought online. Following the first carbon injection on 30 September, daily injection has reached capacity rates. The project, which covers depleted underground reservoirs in the Strzelecki and Marabooka fields, will store vented reservoir CO2 from the adjacent Moomba gas plant.

Regulatory changes by the federal government in 2021 allowed CCS projects to become eligible to generate carbon credit units under the Emission Reduction Fund. The technology is regarded by critics as unproven and unreliable in reducing emissions.