First Beetaloo natural gas flows to homes and businesses in Australia’s Northern Territory
Volumes to build to 40 TJ/d contracted to the Northern Territory Government by the end of 2026
AUSTIN, Texas, September 07, 2026–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Formentera Partners, its Australian operating company, Daly Waters Energy (DWE), and joint-venture partner Tamboran Resources (NYSE: TBN), today announced they achieved first sales of natural gas from the Shenandoah South Pilot Project in Australia’s Beetaloo Basin.
These are the first natural gas molecules ever sold from the Beetaloo and will be used to power Darwin, the Northern Territory’s capital and largest city. The gas moves through the Sturt Plateau Compression Facility (SPCF), which began commissioning activities in late August with a nameplate capacity of 48.5 MMcf/d (50 TJ/d).
“For years, people talked about the potential of the Beetaloo, and today we’ve transformed that into the steady flow of natural gas to Territorians,” said Bryan Sheffield, Managing Partner of Formentera. “Delivering first gas on time, on budget from a frontier basin is a real accomplishment that took close collaboration among our partners, contractors, the government, Native Title Holders, and the community. For the next phase, we will be more than a partner, we will become an operator, which means more capability and more investment coming into the Territory. We’re working toward something even bigger as we grow production to serve the Territory first and, over time through our strategic partnership with INPEX, help supply LNG to markets around the world.”
Highlights
First natural gas from the Beetaloo has been sold into the Northern Territory gas network.
Volumes are set to build to the full 38.8 MMcf/d (40 TJ/d) contracted to the Northern Territory Government by the end of 2026, under a take-or-pay agreement that runs for up to 15 years.
Start-up work is set to wrap up by the end of 2026.
Great Progress in Just Four Years
Formentera entered the play in 2022 and today holds 1.9 million net acres through the core of the basin, making it one of the largest acreage positions in the Beetaloo Basin. The rock shares key characteristics with some of the most prolific U.S. shale plays, including the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. A growing body of successful appraisal results continues to demonstrate the scale, quality and repeatability of the resource, reinforcing the Beetaloo’s potential to become a major, long-life natural gas basin capable of serving the Northern Territory, supplying Australia’s East Coast, and supporting the country’s LNG export industry for decades to come.