ADELAIDE, March 11, 2026, 09:07 (UTC+10:30)
Santos Limited and Beach Energy have taken a final investment decision, the formal go-ahead to commit capital, on the Moomba Central Optimisation project in South Australia’s Cooper Basin. Santos said it will invest $357 million over three years to replace seven ageing gas-driven compressor stations with a single electric-driven hub and add new capacity at the Moomba gas plant. 1
The timing matters for Santos. The company is trying to squeeze more cash from existing infrastructure after a 25% drop in 2025 underlying profit and a plan to cut about 10% of jobs, while major builds such as Barossa LNG and Alaska’s Pikka Phase 1 shift into what Chief Executive Kevin Gallagher called the “base business.” 2
Santos said the Moomba overhaul should deliver more than $600 million in capital and operating savings over the life of the Central Fields, trim unit costs and stay within its all-in free cash flow breakeven target of $45-$50 a barrel. The company also said the work should ease bottlenecks and open room for future production growth from the basin.
Gallagher called the Cooper Basin “a cornerstone of Australia’s gas supply” for more than 60 years and said the project would “unlock significant value” by modernising infrastructure and extending field life. He also said Santos expects the upgrade to cut Scope 1 emissions — those from its own operations — by more than 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year. 3
Beach Energy, which shares the joint venture with Santos, put its own case more bluntly. Chief Executive Brett Woods said the project would help Beach remain a “significant East Coast gas contributor”, while the company targeted more than $400 million in field operating and sustaining capital savings over asset life and a cut of about 20,000 tonnes a year in operational emissions. 4
The Moomba decision also links back to Santos’ recent agreement with South Australia to supply 20 petajoules a year from 2030 to 2040 for the state’s Strategic Gas Reserve and the Whyalla Steelworks’ shift to lower-emissions green iron. A petajoule is a unit used in large gas contracts. Santos said prepayment funds from that deal, if a full gas sale agreement is concluded, are intended to help fund the Moomba work. 5
In January, Santos told investors that Barossa and Pikka together could lift company production by 25% to 30% by 2027 against 2024 levels, after Barossa loaded its first LNG cargo for Japan. Against that backdrop, Moomba looks less like another headline growth push and more like a steady cost-and-reliability play on domestic gas. 6
But the bet still carries risk. The project will take three years, and Santos said part of the economics improve only if it can finalise the South Australia gas deal and use prepayment funds from it.
Gallagher said the Cooper Basin would keep supplying South Australian and east coast markets for decades. Santos is now betting that fewer compression sites, simpler equipment and tighter spending can keep that flow going. 3
