Environment Centre NT staff call on Santos to fix the methane leak in Darwin Harbour.

3 September 2025

ARTEMIS

 

ACCORDING to the investigation, Santos and ConocoPhillips are alleged to have intentionally concealed the leak from the public to ensure it wouldn’t derail plans for an extension of Darwin LNG or approval for its toxic Barossa project.

 

FOI documents also reveal that ConocoPhillips notified the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) of the leak on 29 May 2020. Minister Chris Bowen is currently responsible for the Clean Energy Regulator.

 

No action was taken by the CER in response to this notification.

 

Santos engaged CSIRO to undertake monitoring of the fugitive methane emissions from the leak, but neither the existence of the leak nor the results of the monitoring have ever been made public. Minister Tim Ayres is responsible for CSIRO.

 

CSIRO should publicly release the results of this monitoring and reveal any financial relationship with Santos.

 

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) was informed about the leak in late 2024. Minister Catherine King is responsible for NOPSEMA. Despite awareness of the leak, NOPSEMA gave final approval to Santos’ Barossa LNG project in April 2025.

 

Santos and ConocoPhillips allegedly concealed the leak from the public to prevent it derailing approval for the controversial Barossa project. Despite currently being shut down for works in preparation for backfill with Barossa gas, Santos has not fixed the leak. This raises serious questions about transparency and regulatory capture.

 

Darwin LNG is strategically important to Australia's position as one of the world's largest LNG exporters and is set to be backfilled with gas from Santos controversial Barossa project in late 2025.

 

Environment groups are calling for:

 

• Santos to fix the leak. The faulty tank poses a major threat to the safety of the Darwin community and Australia’s climate. Without action, this massive methane leak will continue for another 25 years, while the gas company operating it would pay nothing for the massive emissions it caused.

 

• The Albanese Government to step in and fix the problem. It must:

 

• Investigate the systemic failures of the Clean Energy Regulator, NOPSEMA and CSIRO to address this problem

 

• Change the law to require the highest standard of leak measurement, reporting and repair to ensure big gas companies reveal and pay for their emissions.

 

• The NTEPA to make fixing the leak a condition of renewing the licence for Darwin LNG. It should also investigate prosecuting Santos for pollution offences.

 

Kirsty Howey, Executive Director, Environment Centre NT said: “This is a national scandal and an unfolding disaster. Santos has been caught red-handed putting the environment, climate and the health and safety of the people of Darwin at risk, while regulators have been asleep at the wheel.”

 

“A raft of government agencies meant to protect our climate, health, and the environment have acted in Santos’ interests instead.

 

“Santos must fix the leak, and the Albanese Government must fix the problem. The faulty tank threatens Australia’s climate and the health and safety of the people of Darwin.

 

“This is Santos’ skeleton in the closet, and the community should rightly be asking what else they are hiding?”

 

Mark Ogge, Principal Adviser at The Australia Institute said: “The revelation that all the key Australian and NT government regulators, and the CSIRO knew about a major 20-year methane leak and failed to act or inform the public is shocking. This reeks of the gas industry capture of Australia’s regulators.

 

“The NT EPA, NOPSEMA, CSIRO, and NTWorksafe are meant to protect our health, safety and environment from the activities of gas corporations, not cover-up for them.”

 

Greens Leader Senator Larissa Waters and Senator Steph Hodgins-May wrote yesterday to the Climate Minister, Chris Bowen, and the Minister responsible for CSIRO, Tim Ayres, demanding an explanation and a commitment to action after reports emerged overnight of a near-two-decade methane leak from a Santos export hub in Darwin.

 

The Greens also wrote to the auditor general requesting a review of how federal regulators conducted themselves in investigating this leak, so the public better understands why no actions were taken against a politically protected gas corporation.

 

The Greens will also use the Senate to order the production of relevant documents from regulators overseen by federal ministers.

 

Australian Greens Senator Larissa Waters said: “These revelations are very disturbing. I commend the Environment Centre NT for uncovering what is either a spectacular failure of regulators or a deliberate cover up by successive governments to protect a gas corporation’s profit margin.

 

“The responsible Ministers must urgently explain why their regulators knowingly allowed Santos to leak methane, an extremely potent heat-trapping gas that has a higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide, for almost two decades.

 

“Ministers Bowen, Ayres and King must also explain if they were aware of what their regulators knew. Their climate credentials are on the line.

 

“The International Energy Agency has already revealed that Australia is underreporting methane emissions by at least 64% because coal and gas corporations are allowed to guess their methane emissions instead of actually measuring them. The Climate Minister agreed to fix this absurd loophole in negotiations with the Greens in the last parliament, but no progress has occurred. Methane is more than 80 times more damaging to the atmosphere over 20 years than carbon dioxide.

 

“Furthermore, Minister Bowen must immediately assure the public that Santos will be compelled to repair the leak. Anything less would be unacceptable for the Darwin community and the climate.”

 

Greens Resources Spokesperson, Senator Steph Hodgins-May said: “This is the latest example of how the government and its agencies are captured by Australia’s coal and gas industry. Dangerously potent heat-trapping gases have been leaking for 19 years without consequence.

 

“CSIRO has financial relationships with the gas industry, and in the past they have  failed to disclose these links.

 

“CSIRO needs to disclose all financial agreements it has with Santos so that the public can understand why our trusted and elite science agency has kept their monitoring results hidden from view.

 

NT WorkSafe said that In 2006 a vapour emission/seepage was discovered when small bubbles were noticed following a heavy rainstorm at the base of the LNG tank. “The Operator commenced a study and started observation over a period of one month to determine the rate of emission and to evaluate the risks associated with the vapour emission from the tank. This included tests with

a gas detector, which did indicate the presence of vapour but in minute quantities.

 

“The vapour emission are the result of small abnormalities in the welding of the vapour barrier, which is allowing vapour to escape from inside of the tank to the void between the vapour barrier and the concrete outer wall.”

 

Drone monitoring conducted during 2019-2020 due diligence for the sale of Darwin LNG assets from ConocoPhillips to Santos estimated the leak at up to 184kg per hour.

 

Gas leaks, particularly methane leaks, occur in Australian gas fields and facilities, although the frequency and scale are debated, with studies showing higher emissions than officially reported and ongoing issues with aging infrastructure and well integrity. While industry and government figures suggest relatively low overall leakage rates (under 1% of production), independent reports indicate significant and widespread methane pollution from these sources.

 

Some experts and environmental groups argue that Australia's regulations are too weak to effectively control methane emissions from gas facilities and that under-reporting is common, according to RenewEconomy.

 

The leak continues in Darwin Harbour today, and there has been no commitment to fix the issue.

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