Barossa’s history includes regulatory delays, legal challenges from Tiwi Island traditional owners, and multiple construction hurdles before a 2021 final investment decision, underscoring longstanding operational risk.

The project has faced reliability issues, including a 2025 software fault causing a two-week outage and ongoing commissioning problems with the BW Opal vessel, delaying practical completion earlier in March; only one LNG carrier has docked since the first, with another arrival canceled.

Santos has quietly shut down its Barossa LNG project’s Darwin LNG facility for several weeks amid a global gas crisis, a move that could affect customers awaiting supply and potentially push down near-term volumes if the outage persists.

Barossa is operated by Santos with a 50% stake, while SK E&S holds 37.5% and JERA 12.5% in the venture.

Market expectations are for a potential downgrade to Santos’s 2026 production forecast due to Barossa’s slow ramp-up and the latest setback, signaling ongoing production risk.

Santos’ 2026 quarterly outlook pegs total production around 101–111 mmboe, with Barossa contributing roughly 19 mmboe.

Earlier in the year, Darwin LNG exports had resumed after Barossa’s delayed start-up, which faced compressor seal problems.

Santos described the shutdown as planned, tied to commissioning activities, with no specific resumption timeline provided.

The export interruption comes amid a tightening LNG market amid broader global disruptions, including attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure and Qatar-related shipment issues affecting Europe and Asia.

The shutdown interrupts gas feeding the Darwin LNG plant, potentially affecting Santos’s full-year production targets of 101–111 million barrels of oil equivalent and narrowing the ramp-up at Barossa.

Asian utilities’ growing reliance on Australian LNG to offset reduced Middle East shipments has supported Santos and Woodside Energy with rising share prices amid the global energy crisis.

Analysts are watching for revisions to Santos’s guidance as supply tightens in the eastern Australian gas market ahead of winter.