Landholders along the Hunter and Narrabri gas pipeline route are frustrated the NSW Energy Minister has granted Santos permission to survey land along the route.
The permission was granted by Matt Kean last week and essentially gives the owner of the projects, Santos, permission to survey where they like along the route even if the landholder doesn’t agree.
Both the Narrabri and Hunter projects have been in the planning for years, Santos bought out the Hunter project from Garbis Simonian last year so they could connect it to their Narrabri project via another pipeline that was granted critical state significance last month.
The 50-kilometre pipeline connecting the two projects is approved to be operated by Santos until 2045 – they would be able to drill up to 850 new gas wells on up to 425 new well pads across the region.
The construction for production wells and pads is expected to start mid-to-late 2023 – up to 1300 construction and 200 operational jobs will be created according to the company.
The majority of landholders along the route of the pipeline have been against the project since the start, but the government says the project is crucial for our future gas and energy needs.