Tag Archives: Santos

Curtin Uni to tap new acoustic sensing tech for Australian resource extraction

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A Curtin University research team will work to bring leading broadband fibre optic acoustic sensing technology to the Australian mining, oil and gas and environmental monitoring industries, offering, the university says, a more cost-effective and safer resource extraction process.

As part of the Australian Government’s Global Innovation Linkages Program, the team – led by Professor Roman Pevzner from Curtin’s WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering – will partner with international collaborators to test the viability of the technology in the Australian landscape.

The project will seek to produce a suite of passive and active geophysical data acquisition and analysis techniques based on broadband fibre optic sensing that aim to significantly reduce the cost of geophysical characterisation of the subsurface and develop a safer resource extraction process, it said.

Curtin University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Professor, Chris Moran, said the Curtin research project sought to ensure Australia was not left behind by the latest global advances in fibre optic acoustic sensing technology.

“Despite Australia’s leading role in the deployment and application of fibre optic sensing for research, the current uptake of this technology in the Australian industry lags behind world leaders such as the USA and the UK,” Professor Moran said.

“Demonstrating the benefits of fibre optic technology in Australian conditions in cooperation with our major oil and gas producers will help accelerate the uptake of this technology in the sector, as well as the wider mining and environmental monitoring industries.”

Professor Pevzner said the project would develop technologies that use ambient seismic energy and physical phenomena, including remote earthquakes, ocean microseisms and human activity, through laboratory and field studies.

“Our Curtin team has developed, patented and commercialised a forced-oscillation stress-strain method and equipment for measuring different properties of rocks at seismic and sub-seismic frequencies,” Professor Pevzner said.

“As part of this new project, we will integrate fibre optic sensing technology into our apparatus with the ultimate aim of delivering cost-saving and safer resource extraction processes to Australia’s critically important resources sector.”

As part of the project, Curtin will work with CSIRO, Santos, Woodside and global leaders in seismology and fibre optic sensing in the application to geosciences such as Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, Iowa State University, Class VI Solutions and Silixa Ltd.

Santos and Gold Fields agree on new gas deal to supply WA mines

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Santos says it has entered into a new gas supply agreement with Gold Fields for its three gold mines in the state.

The company, Western Australia’s biggest domestic gas supplier, will supply nearly 5.5 PJ of natural gas from its Varanus Island gas plant (pictured) over three years, starting on July 1, 2020, as part of the agreement.

In Western Australia, Gold Fields owns and operates the St Ives open-pit/underground mine, the Agnew underground mine and the Granny Smith underground mine. These have throughput capacities of 4.7 Mt/y, 1.3 Mt/y and 3.5 Mt/y, respectively.

The 56 MW Agnew Hybrid Renewable project recently got up and running at Gold Fields’ Agnew mine. This includes five 110 m wind turbines, each with a rotor diameter of 140 m, delivering 18 MW; a 10,710-panel solar farm generating 4 MW; a 13 MW/4 MWh battery system; and an off-grid 21 MW gas/diesel engine power plant.

Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Gallagher, said: “We are delighted Gold Fields has come back to Santos after a short hiatus, reinforcing our position as Western Australia’s biggest supplier of gas to the local market.

“Santos supplies around 40% of the state’s total domestic demand, and we are committed to ongoing investment in developing new gas supplies in Western Australia.

“In these challenging economic times, we are focused on ensuring local gas prices remain competitive for Western Australian businesses over the long term.”

Mount Isa miners to benefit from NGP gas following Jemena/Santos deal

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Miners in the Mount Isa region of Queensland, Australia, look set to benefit from a new supply of power, after energy infrastructure company, Jemena, signed a transportation contract with Australia power producer, Santos, to ship gas across the new Northern Gas Pipeline (NGP).

The contract, which means around 80% of the NGP’s total available capacity in year one is spoken for, will see Jemena ship around 8 TJ/d of gas across the 622 km pipeline.

The A$800 million ($580 million) NGP, which will connect Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory with Mount Isa in Queensland, is still in construction. First gas from the 92 TJ/d facility is scheduled to flow in late 2018.

The agreement with Santos comes after Jemena announced it had signed a contract with Incitec Pivot Limited (IPL) to deliver 32 TJ/d of gas to IPL’s Gibson Island facility in Queensland. This facility makes up one half of IPL’s Brisbane operations (the other being its Pinkenba site), which produce ammonia, urea, CO2 as well as granulated fertiliser products.

Jemena’s Executive General Manager of Corporate Development, Antoon Boey, said the new agreement will see Jemena transport gas for three years from the first day of commercial pipeline operations for Santos.

“This agreement provides more much-needed gas to the mining and processing sector in the Mount Isa area, and is a positive for the local community, who will benefit not only from jobs which rely on gas as a direct feedstock, but from the flow-on effects of having a vibrant local economy and industry,” he said.