SYDNEY, Thursday 29 October 2026 — Greenpeace Australia Pacific has accused gas giant Santos of evading responsibility, after the ABC today revealed correspondence showing the offshore regulator, NOPSEMA, caught Santos in “continued non-compliance” at its Barossa Gas Project.
The ABC report published today revealed that NOPSEMA slapped Santos with a formal warning in March 2026 after an inspection which found key aspects of the project’s Environment Plan regarding flaring and fuel management were not being implemented. Follow up checks showed ongoing non-compliance, with the identified issues still unresolved.
Santos is currently challenging a decision by NOPSEMA to approve the release of several documents relating to the warning to Greenpeace Australia Pacific under FOI.
Gas from the offshore Barossa Gas Project is piped to Santos’ Darwin LNG processing facility, which the ABC last year revealed has been leaking gas in huge quantities for over two decades, in what was labelled a “national scandal”.
Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “This is shameful behaviour by Santos. The document uncovered by the ABC shows the offshore regulator has caught Santos red-handed for ongoing failure to comply with environmental rules.
“It is unacceptable that Santos appears to have simply ignored NOPSEMA’s warning and allowed these serious environmental problems to go unfixed. The gas giant is acting like a rogue operator, showing utter contempt for Australians and our environment, and putting its profits above anything else.
“This doesn’t pass the pub test: if something is broken, you fix it, you don’t bury your head in the sand and make excuses. NOPSEMA said it holds “concerns” about Santos’ actions, I say we are all being taken for a ride.
“The bottom line is gas corporations cannot be trusted. This is part of a pattern of conduct by an industry that has shown time and again it does not care. The Australian Government needs to tell companies like Santos and Chevron to cut the bullshit and follow the rules.
“There is no future in gas — our future is in clean, secure, affordable renewable energy and exports where communities and the environment are protected, not sacrificed for gas industry profits.”
-ENDS-
Notes to editor:
The Schedule of Documents approved by NOPSEMA for release under FOI to Greenpeace Australia Pacific are available on request. The documents themselves are yet to be released due to Santos’ challenge of the decision.
The ABC report comes just one week after Chevron was warned by the UN for a methane leak at its Gorgon facility in WA that was so enormous it was visible from space.
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