Teething troubles on Barossa FPSO offshore Australia have prolonged offshore commissioning
Australian independent Santos currently plans to restart production around 18 April from its flagship Barossa gas project offshore Australia.
Santos, in the last week of March, temporarily halted production at its Darwin LNG project in Australia’s Northern Territory, as it continued to iron out teething troubles on BW Offshore’s BW Opal floating production, storage and offloading vessel deployed.
The BW Opal is deployed at the Barossa field, which provides feed gas to the 3.7 million tonnes per annum Darwin LNG project.
The operator on Wednesday confirmed it is progressing the Barossa gas project to resume production at full rates.
Dry gas seals on the FPSO’s compressors have been successfully replaced to allow production at full capacity, and heat exchangers are now being flushed and cleaned to remove blockages in preparation to recommence production with start-up currently expected around 18 April.
Three Barossa liquefied natural gas cargoes were sold in the first quarter of this year while output was constrained due to commissioning activities of the BW Opal FPSO.
The BW Opal is the centrepiece of the Barossa project with produced gas volumes being sent via offshore pipeline infrastructure to the upgraded Darwin LNG facility, also operated by Santos.
The floater has handling capacity of 850 million cubic feet per day of gas and 11,000 barrels per day of condensate.
Barossa’s first LNG cargo had been scheduled before the end of 2025 but ultimately it was shipped in January.
FPSO owner BW Offshore, which is leasing the facility to Santos for 15 years, earlier confirmed the BW Opal successfully achieved first gas last September and had since progressed into the offshore commissioning and start-up phase.
“Technical adjustments and early-stage operational challenges are a normal part of this process, and production levels are expected to vary until the commencement of the contract term following Practical Completion,” a BW Offshore spokesperson earlier told Upstream.
Practical Completion is now expected before the end of June, a slight delay from the previously touted first quarter of 2026.
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