The Darwin Liquefied Natural Gas (DLNG) plant, operated by Australian oil and gas producer Santos, has exported its first cargo since restarting operations, with the shipment currently heading for Sakai in Japan, ship-tracking data showed.
Darwin LNG halted shipments in late 2023 as the plant's previous gas source, the Bayu Undan field in the Timor Sea, was depleting. It is now receiving natural gas from the Barossa oil and gas project, which is co-owned by Santos, South Korean energy company SK ES, and Japan's JERA.
This first cargo since the restart was picked up by the tanker Kool Blizzard, which departed the Darwin LNG facility in Australia's Northern Territory on January 25, according to data from analytics firms Kpler and LSEG.
Kpler data indicated the tanker will arrive in Sakai, Japan on February 1 but it is not immediately clear who is the buyer of the cargo.
Santos had previously planned for its first Darwin LNG cargo from the Barossa field to depart at the end of 2025, but later said repairs to piping systems had slowed progress.
Chief Executive Kevin Gallagher said in a statement on Santos' fourth-quarter earnings results last week that along with its Pikka project in Alaska, Barossa will lift the Australian oil and gas company's output by around 25 to 30 per cent by 2027 compared to 2024 levels.
(Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
