Santos’ Moomba carbon capture and storage (CCS) project has reached a major milestone, locking away two million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent stored underground.
The Moomba CCS facility is located in South Australia’s Cooper Basin and is Australia’s largest onshore CCS project.
It achieved the milestone in just over 18 months of operation and highlights the reliability of the technology, which continued to operate seamlessly despite two significant flooding events in the Cooper Basin over the past year.
According to the Clean Energy Regulator’s recent Safeguard Mechanism data insights report, the Moomba facility has emerged as a key contributor to emissions reduction, successfully driving down emissions intensity across the nation’s oil and gas sector.
During the 2024–25 reporting period, the project stored approximately one million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This single effort accounted for roughly one-third of the total emissions reduction recorded across all facilities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism compared to the previous year.
Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher said Australia holds unique competitive advantages in the global race to deploy CCS, citing the nation’s vast geological storage resources, robust regulatory framework, and proximity to major Asian emitters.
“CCS is an incredible opportunity for Australia to secure its standing as the region’s carbon storage powerhouse – unlocking new skilled, secure, well-paying jobs and international investment,” Gallagher said.
He noted that Santos’ acreage in the Cooper and Eromanga Basins has the potential to inject up to 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually for up to 50 years. The company is positioning the project to handle third-party emissions from hard-to-abate sectors like steel and cement.
The two million tonnes of stored carbon dioxide is equivalent to taking 826,000 cars off South Australian roads. The project’s success has also seen it awarded more than 1.19 million Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) for lifecycle injections up to 30 September 2025.
“In just over 18 months of operation, Moomba is already demonstrating its mettle in delivering emissions reductions at scale and directly contributing to Santos achieving its 2030 Scope 1 and 2 equity emissions reduction target – five years ahead of plan,” Gallagher said.
“The opportunity of CCS for our company, customers and country is extraordinary.”