Santos has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with energy infrastructure company APA Group to work on decarbonisation infrastructure.

The companies will work to connect the CCS facility in Moomba, South Australia, with major carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitters and/or CO₂ import destinations.

Santos and APA will evaluate the CCS pipeline transport routes from major Gladstone, Port Bonython and Greater Sydney emission sources to the Cooper Basin Moomba CCS project.

The oil and gas company has plans for three CCS hubs in Australia, the most advanced of which is the Moomba project, which is managed by Santos and could hold up to 1.7 million tonnes of CO₂ annually in phase one.

First CO₂ injection is expected in 2024.

Santos Energy Solutions executive vice-president Alan Stuart-Grant said: “Santos has already booked 100 million tonnes of carbon storage resource in the Cooper Basin in South Australia. The Cooper and Eromanga Basins have enormous carbon storage capacity, with the potential to store up to 20 million tonnes of CO₂ per year for up to 50 years.

“The world simply cannot achieve net zero by 2050 without a large scale-up of CCS, and Santos has the expertise and infrastructure to be able to deliver low-cost, large-scale CCS and decarbonisation technologies.”

APA Group executive energy solutions Darren Rogers said: “CCS is recognised by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to play an important role in reducing emissions in the energy sector.

“We have deep experience and capability in building complex linear infrastructure, having developed thousands of kilometres of pipelines across Australia, which will continue to play an important role in Australia’s energy transition.”

The announcement follows Santos’ partnership with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to develop key CCS technologies to accelerate decarbonisation.

ADNOC and Santos will also explore opportunities to set up a network of infrastructure to ship and transport CO₂.