Natural gas company Tamboran Resources Corporation (ASX:TBN) has announced it will be working together with Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) to investigate the potential for the Darwin LNG project in the Northern Territory to be expanded through the addition of resources from the Beetaloo Basin.

The two companies are joint owners of the EP 161 acreage (Santos 75% operator, Tamboran 25%) in the Beetaloo Basin, and they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate technical studies there, looking at options for supplying natural gas to a potential expansion train at the Darwin LNG facility.

Santos is the operator of the latter project – located at Middle Arm – which has been approved for a nominal 10 million tonnes of LNG per annum, and which is in the process of pre-FEED studies with Bechtel Corporation.

This expansion opportunity would include around 6 million tonnes per annum.

EP 161 acreage is known to hold around 300,000 acres of Mid Velkerri B Shale at depths under 8,850 feet (or around 2,700 metres). Two Tanumbirini wells were drilled
and flow tested in 2022, with these showing the presence of Marcellus Basin-type decline curves within the territory.

Tamboran managing director and CEO Joel Riddle said the MoU would be an important step for both his company and Santos, who have collaborated on the EP 161 acreage for more than 10 years.

“The MOU between Tamboran and Santos aims to explore commercialization options for the development of DLNG Train 2 utilizing natural gas supplied from the extensive prospective gas resources within the Beetaloo Basin,” he said.

“With approximately two million net prospective acres across the Beetaloo Basin, Tamboran holds significant gas resources capable of supplying Northern Territory and Australia’s East Coast gas market for decades.”

At 17:03 AEDT, Tamboran shares were trading at 17 cents – a rise of 6.25% since the market opened.

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