Santos could drill for new gas in Beetaloo basin within weeks as Murray Watt urged to ‘do his job’

Key Takeaways

• Santos could begin new drilling for gas in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo basin within weeks after the Finocchiaro government granted approval for up to 12 wells.
• The decision, published late last month, has prompted calls from environment groups for the federal environment minister, Murray Watt, to use his powers to “call in” the development for an assessment of its potential effects on water and threatened species under national nature laws.
• Environment Centre of the Northern Territory (ECNT) executive director Kirsty Howey said she was concerned “the project is a gateway to full-scale fracking in the territory” after years of relatively slow development in the Beetaloo region south of Katherine and would add to the climate crisis.
• The Territory chief minister, Lia Finocchiaro, told a recent industry conference she was pleased some projects in the basin, such as Beetaloo Energy’s operations, were getting closer to production and Territorians were excited at the prospect of powering their beer fridges with Beetaloo gas.
• Santos’ project at Tanumbirini Station, a 5,000 sq km cattle station where it has existing exploration wells, would involve 12 new appraisal wells.