00:00The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, which is at the centre of this consortium that was
00:09looking to take over Santos, isn't exactly saying, but reportedly the ABC's revelations
00:15of this long-standing hidden gas leak at its Darwin centrepiece, the Darwin liquefied
00:22natural gas plant, the gateway to its LNG export to Asia, that this Middle Eastern interest
00:32was taken by surprise by these reports.
00:35And it's walked away from this offer in the middle of takeover talks, which analysts say
00:41is very unusual.
00:43Now, regardless, it's clear that the news of this leak that sparked accusations from environmentalists
00:52and from federal crossbenchers, that this was a cover-up by gas companies and a cover-up
00:58by regulators at the territory and federal level, you know, it couldn't have come really
01:06at a worse time for Santos as it was trying to negotiate this deal.
01:10So what now for Santos and this leaking Darwin LNP facility?
01:15Well, until it was revealed earlier this month, it looked like Santos was going to be able
01:20to continue to use this leaking facility, which is, on its own estimates, adding the climate
01:28equivalent of about 7,000 new cars to the road every year through this leak of climate-polluting
01:36methane.
01:37Santos had been allowed to use this leaking facility for its new Barossa gas project, and it wasn't
01:45being forced to fix the leak.
01:46But, of course, the revelation has led to some serious political pressure in the Northern
01:52Territory.
01:53And at the federal level, the federal climate minister, Chris Bowen, has said that he was
01:59concerned to learn of the revelations.
02:01There's more pressure for federal agencies to step in to force the repair of this leak.
02:07There's even pressure on the head of the Northern Territory Environmental Protection Authority
02:11over his links to the fossil fuel industry, about whether he should have any involvement
02:17in this decision to approve the use of this tank, and indeed, whether his job is tenable.
02:25That's in flux for now, but it's one we'll have to watch.
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