{"id":312765,"date":"2025-11-27T19:25:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T19:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/312765\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T19:25:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T19:25:14","slug":"how-far-is-it-going-to-escalate-fear-santos-gas-plan-in-beetaloo-basin-could-be-start-of-nt-fracking-rush-santos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/312765\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018How far is it going to escalate?\u2019 Fear Santos gas plan in Beetaloo basin could be start of NT fracking rush | Santos"},"content":{"rendered":"

A plan by fossil fuel company Santos to expand gas exploration in the Beetaloo basin has been criticised by environmentalists who fear it may mark the beginning of a fracking rush in the Northern Territory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Santos has published plans to drill 12 fracking wells at Tanumbirini Station, a 5,000 sq km cattle station about 340km south-east of Katherine.<\/p>\n

Dr Kirsty Howey, executive director of the Environment Centre NT, described the plan as \u201cthe biggest ever gas play in the Beetaloo for Santos\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a huge new proposal \u2013 one of the biggest we\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the NT government<\/a> gave the green light for fracking \u2013 hydraulic fracturing for gas \u2013 in the Beetaloo to begin, after it was satisfied the recommendations of an independent inquiry had been met.<\/p>\n

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Analysis by Climate Analytics<\/a> in the same year estimated that fracking in the Beetaloo basin could lead to 1.2bn tonnes of greenhouse gas emitted over 25 years. Scientists have also warned that a planned massive expansion would have an unacceptable impact on the climate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a document published on its website, Santos said a drilling appraisal program was planned to start in 2026 to \u201cdetermine whether the shale gas reservoir is commercially viable\u201d, with up to 12 wells \u201cto be constructed, operated and then decommissioned\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though it\u2019s not full-scale production, it\u2019s a really significant signalling of intent by Santos and the question is how far is it going to escalate now?\u201d Howey said. \u201cIt\u2019s the biggest company remaining in the Beetaloo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf fracking moves to full-scale production, over 6,000 wells could be drilled through our precious aquifers, polluting our groundwater with toxic chemicals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ninety percent of the territory\u2019s water supply comes from groundwater, which the Environment Centre NT is concerned could be contaminated by chemicals used as part of the fracking process.<\/p>\n

\u201cFracking undoubtedly poses a major risk to this huge, quite incredible aquifer that many Aboriginal communities and pastoralists rely on,\u201d Howey said.<\/p>\n

Methane bubbles<\/a> have been observed at hot springs at Tanumbirini Station, suggesting connections between surface water and the shale gas layer to be targeted for fracking.<\/p>\n

Howey called on Santos \u201cto be a good corporate citizen\u201d and refer the proposal to be assessed under federal environment laws. \u201cIt\u2019s going to impact new waterways and some sites which have only become known to western science in the last few years, including this hot springs complex.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnbelievably there has never, ever been a referral of fracking in the Northern Territory \u2026 under the EPBC Act,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

A 2023 report commissioned by the ECNT found \u201ccritical data and knowledge gaps\u201d that made it impossible to properly assess the risk of contamination and over-extraction of water<\/a> due to fracking in the Beetaloo.<\/p>\n

Prof Matthew Currell, a hydrogeologist at Griffith University and the lead author of that report, said incidents overseas showed there was a \u201cbig risk of contamination\u201d of shallow water bodies and groundwater. \u201cWe\u2019ve already seen incidents of uncontrolled releases of wastewater from shale gas fracking sites in the Beetaloo from other operators.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re talking about this being the first phase of a very significant increase in the size \u2026 of the shale gas industry, you really have to get the science right first before you start drilling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Santos was recently criticised over an LNG storage tank in Darwin, bought in 2020, which was in September revealed to have been leaking methane<\/a> for years.<\/p>\n

In New South Wales, the state\u2019s peak body for farmers is exploring avenues for a legal challenge<\/a> to Santos\u2019s Narrabri gas project, while proposed pipelines in the Narrabri and Hunter regions are also facing significant community opposition.<\/p>\n

Santos was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

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Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A plan by fossil fuel company Santos to expand gas exploration in the Beetaloo basin has been criticised…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-312765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}