ConocoPhillips Australia, as operator of the Barossa joint venture, has awarded the first Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for the Barossa offshore project.

Technip Oceania Pty Ltd (TFMC) has been awarded a contract to supply the Subsea Production System (SPS) and associated SPS installation support.

The Barossa offshore gas and light condensate project is currently in the front-end engineering design (FEED) phase. Subject to commercial arrangements being agreed, Barossa will provide a new source of gas to the existing Darwin LNG facility when the current offshore gas supply from Bayu-Undan is exhausted.

Barossa’s offshore development concept includes a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility, SPS and gas export pipeline, located in Commonwealth waters 300 kilometres north of Darwin.

Award of the SPS EPC contract follows earlier awards in June 2018 of Barossa FEED engineering design contracts for the FPSO, subsea infrastructure and gas export pipeline.

ConocoPhillips Australia West President Chris Wilson said the award of the SPS EPC contract was another significant step in positioning Barossa as a leading candidate to extend the life of the Darwin LNG facility for another two decades.

“This award represents a significant milestone in the Barossa Project. The SPS facilities include critical, long lead time equipment which is required to be ordered prior to a final investment decision in order to meet the project schedule,” Mr. Wilson said.

“We continue to focus on strong cost discipline with all our selected contractors, developing the certainty of cost, schedule and execution planning required to compete in our global portfolio and support a final investment decision.”

Barossa would meet future global demand for natural gas and contribute significant income, employment and other benefits to the Northern Territory and Australia through continued operation of the Darwin LNG facility.