BW Offshore has achieved first gas on its BW Opal floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO), marking a major milestone in Santos’ Barossa LNG project offshore Australia.
The BW Opal reached ready for start-up on September 16, with first gas following on September 20. The achievement triggers 60% of the contractual dayrate under its long-term charter agreement. Upcoming milestones include the Interim Performance Test, which will raise the dayrate to 85%, and Practical Completion, which will initiate the full 15-year contract period at 100% of the dayrate.
The FPSO is designed to process up to 850 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d) of gas and 11,000 barrels per day (bpd) of stabilized condensate. Once fully operational, it will play a central role in unlocking the resource potential of the Barossa field, located 285 km offshore Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory.
“Reaching first gas on BW Opal is a tremendous achievement and a testament to the hard work, dedication, and collaboration of our teams, contractors, and partners,” said Marco Beenen, CEO of BW Offshore.
The project underscores BW Offshore’s ability to deliver complex offshore developments while supporting long-term LNG production and energy security in the Asia-Pacific region.
