Santos expects production from the BW Opal FPSO at the Barossa gas field to begin ramping up next week, following maintenance work tied to commissioning activities offshore Australia’s Northern Territory.

The company said first-quarter 2026 production reached 22.5 million boe, 1% higher than the previous quarter and 3% above the same period in 2025. The increase was supported by the first cargoes from Barossa.

During the shutdown, dry gas compressor seals were replaced to support full production once the unit returns online. Santos is also completing flushing and cleaning work on heat exchanger trains. LNG output is expected to start a few days after the FPSO resumes operations.

The BW Opal is positioned at the Barossa field, about 285 km offshore Darwin, and is planned to supply gas to Darwin LNG for the next 20 years. Initial LNG production followed completion of the Darwin LNG life extension work, including cooling down the LNG train and storage tank.

Managing Director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said the project faced some commissioning issues, but the compressor seal replacement had been completed and ramp-up was expected as heat exchanger work is finalised.

Elsewhere in the portfolio, PNG LNG maintained plant reliability above 98%, with an annual run rate of around 8.6 mtpa. GLNG delivered steady upstream output, while LNG production ran at 5.8 mtpa and 24 contracted cargoes were shipped in the quarter.

Santos also reached FID on the Moomba Central Optimisation project, which targets more than $600 million in capital and operating cost savings over the life of the Central fields. The company also secured a ten-year, 200 petajoule conditional gas sales agreement with the South Australian government, including a pre-pay linked to the Moomba investment.