Moomba Carbon Capture and Storage Project

Moomba Carbon Capture and Storage Project is a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project located at the Moomba Gas Plant, approximately 800km north of Adelaide in the remote Cooper Basin of South Australia. Registered in November 2021, the project is a major joint venture between Santos Limited (66.7%) and Beach Energy Limited (33.3%). It utilizes the depleted underground oil and gas reservoirs of the Strzelecki and Marabooka fields to permanently store carbon dioxide.

The project operates under the Carbon Capture and Storage Methodology Determination 2021. This methodology involves capturing greenhouse gases, specifically carbon dioxide separated during natural gas processing, that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere. The captured gas is dehydrated, compressed, and transported via pipeline to injection wells, where it is pumped deep underground into geological formations for permanent sequestration. To generate credits, the project must prove the stored gas is contained indefinitely and monitored for leakage.

The Moomba region lies within the Strzelecki Desert, characterized by an arid climate with very low, highly variable rainfall averaging less than 180mm annually. The landscape consists primarily of red sand dunes, clay pans, and gibber plains. While the immediate area is an industrial hub for oil and gas extraction, the broader region supports extensive pastoral grazing on native vegetation.

This project is significant as one of the world's largest CCS facilities, with a nameplate capacity to store up to 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 per annum. It became fully operational in October 2024, achieving its full injection rates shortly after start-up. Santos has highlighted the project's low lifecycle cost (under US$30 per tonne) as a key demonstration of the commercial viability of CCS technology in Australia's energy transition.