Santos has received approval by NOPSEMA for the commissioning and operations associated with the single well Spartan gas field, part of the Varanus Island Hub, that will be tied back to the John Brookes wellhead platform (WHP) via a single flexible flowline and umbilical.

The Varanus Hub consists of the John Brookes, Spartan and Greater East Spar (GES) gas fields and is located offshore the North West Shelf of Western Australia. Production fluids from these fields are transported by subsea pipelines to the Varanus Island oil and gas hub Varanus Island Hub.

The Spartan Development activities consist of drilling the Spartan Development well, installation of subsea equipment and pre-commissioning activities to connect the new well to the existing John Brookes Wellhead Platform via a new flexible subsea flowline.

Activities are planned to commence in the third quarter of 2022 and are expected to take approximately 42 days, while subsea installation and pre-commissioning activities will take approximately 25 days.

Topsides activities and commissioning commenced in the fourth quarter of 2021.