Santos plans to roll out up to 175 new coal seam gas production wells on ground about 68km east of Roma over a period of about five years from 2029.

The Roma Phase 8B Stage 2 development’s referral under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is open for public comment until October 12.

The work is planned for tenement ATP 2052, where Santos has already undertaken drilling and completion of eight CSG appraisal wells over the past few years.

The project will include:

• well leases (typically 1.25ha for single wells and up to 3ha for multi-wells)
• water/gas gathering lines, trunklines and pipelines (typically 20-35m wide)
• roads and access tracks (typically 10-15m wide)
• other supporting infrastructure including temporary water storage tanks, temporary workers’ camps, power/communications lines

According to documentation supporting the application, Santos undertook several revisions of the project’s preliminary disturbance footprint to avoid and mitigate impacts to environmental values.

Separately, in the next five years, Santos plans to develop its ATP 2053 tenure, which is located about 25km west of the project area.