Environment groups are urging the Australian government to intervene after documents revealed that Santos’s Darwin LNG export facility has been leaking methane for nearly 20 years.
The disclosures, obtained by the Environment Centre NT, raise questions about transparency in the gas sector and the role of regulators in overseeing large energy projects.
The Darwin LNG plant, located at Wickham Point near Darwin Harbour, is considered important to Australia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
The facility, formerly operated by ConocoPhillips and taken over by Santos in 2020, is currently shut down for works ahead of its planned backfill with gas from the company’s Barossa field project in late 2025.
According to the documents, methane leaks from one of the plant’s storage tanks date back to 2006.
Drone monitoring conducted between 2019 and 2020, as part of due diligence for the sale of the plant from ConocoPhillips to Santos, estimated leak rates of up to 184 kilograms of methane per hour.
Methane is a greenhouse gas with a significantly higher short-term warming impact than carbon dioxide.
Environment Centre NT alleges that both Santos and ConocoPhillips failed to disclose the leak publicly to avoid jeopardising approvals for the Barossa development, which has faced ongoing legal challenges and criticism from climate advocates.
The group also claims the leak has not yet been fixed despite the plant’s temporary shutdown.
Several government bodies – including the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NTEPA), NT Worksafe, the Clean Energy Regulator, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA), and the CSIRO – were reportedly aware of the long-running issue but did not compel repairs.
Environmental groups have described this as evidence of “regulatory capture”.
Kirsty Howey, Executive Director of Environment Centre NT, said: “This is a national scandal and an unfolding disaster.
“Santos has been caught red-handed putting the environment, climate and the health and safety of the people of Darwin at risk, while regulators have been asleep at the wheel.
“A raft of government agencies meant to protect our climate, health, and the environment have acted in Santos’ interests instead.
“Santos must fix the leak, and the Albanese government must fix the problem. The faulty tank threatens Australia’s climate and the health and safety of the people of Darwin.
“This is Santos’ skeleton in the closet, and the community should rightly be asking what else they are hiding.”
Mark Ogge, Principal Adviser at The Australia Institute, also criticised regulatory handling of the issue.
“The revelation that all the key Australian and NT government regulators, and the CSIRO knew about a major 20-year methane leak, and failed to act or inform the public is shocking,” said Ogge.
“This reeks of the gas industry capture of Australia’s regulators.”
“The NT EPA, NOPSEMA, CSIRO, and NT Worksafe are meant to protect our health, safety and environment from the activities of gas corporations, not cover-up for them.”
Santos, valued at an estimated $36 billion, reported an after-tax profit of $1.2 billion last year.
The company is currently the subject of a takeover bid led by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), with due diligence scheduled to conclude later this month.
The licence for the Darwin LNG facility is due for renewal by the NTEPA on 18 September.
Environment groups are calling for the regulator to make fixing the leak a condition of the licence extension.
They are also pressing for stronger federal oversight.
Specifically, campaigners want the Australian government to investigate the actions of relevant regulators, prosecute potential pollution offences, and strengthen laws to mandate more rigorous leak measurement, reporting and repair standards for gas infrastructure.
At present, the company has not issued a detailed public response to the claims.
The federal government has also not announced whether it will take action in light of the revelations.
For critics of the gas sector, the case underscores concerns about emissions accountability for Australia’s LNG exports.
For Santos and the government, it presents a significant test of how regulators oversee one of the country’s most significant energy industries at a time of increasing scrutiny of climate and environmental impacts.
