Our Story
Two entrepreneurial school friends, from Adelaide, Robert Francis ‘Bob’ Bristowe and John Langdon Bonython, decided to pursue their hunches that oil could be found in South Australia. The dream was realised by partnering with a team of geologists led by Reg Sprigg and Helmut Wopfner. Without them, Santos would not be in existence today.
Pictured: Santos Directors (L-R): John Bonython, John Jenkinson, Hubert Harvey and Bob Bristowe. Springfield 1957.
On 18 March 1954, Santos was incorporated, with its name an acronym of South Australia Northern Territory Oil Search. One of the world’s greatest explorers and South Australia’s most eminent geologist, Sir Douglas Mawson, joined the inaugural Santos Board. He was part of the decision to add Northern Territory to the Santos name.
Pictured: Sir Douglas Mawson
Construction of gas processing facilities at the remote Moomba plant in the Cooper Basin begins, preparing the company to pipe gas to Adelaide, South Australia. This plant is still in operation and a core asset for the future of Santos.
Pictured: Moomba gas plant. 14 June 1973.
Gas and crude oil discovered at Tirrawarra-1. Until then, popular opinion was that the Cooper Basin would only be a gas resource. It was the first time that oil had flowed to the surface from a well in South Australia.
Pictured: South Australian Premier Don Dunstan and Bridge Oil Chairman Paul Strasser. The men sniff an oil sample from Tirrawarra-1. Image credit: News Ltd/Newspix
Construction of the liquids pipeline from Moomba to Stony Point, near Whyalla, South Australia begins. The pipeline allowed Santos to market oil and contributed to the expansion of the company footprint, and the beginning of a major export industry. The following year, the Government of South Australia officially named the Stony Point port terminal Port Bonython, in honour of John Bonython.
Pictured: Workers welding sections of pipe together during construction in June 1982.
Santos begins to develop a major liquids business with the first shipment of liquid hydrocarbons leaving Port Bonython, South Australia bound for the Shell Refinery in Geelong, Victoria becoming the first significant producers of condensate in Australia. The following year, the liquids business officially opened – Australia's largest onshore petroleum development – with the historic first loading of a large export LPG vessel the Genkai Maru bound for Japan.
Pictured: The tanker Cellana berthed at the temporary loading facility offshore Stony Point, South Australia. February 1983.
Bayu-Undan LNG (offshore Timor-Leste), Casino (offshore Victoria, Australia) and Maleo projects (offshore East Java, Indonesia), start production. The first shipment of LNG leaving the Bayu-Undan processing plant in Darwin, was a major milestone for Santos and enabled the company to join international ranks of exploration and production companies worldwide.
Pictured: FSO Liberdade (background) at the Bayu-Undan gas field.
Santos' growing exploration and operation led to signing the gas agreement with the Papua New Guinea Government enabling the PNG LNG project to develop.
Pictured: Sir Michael Somare, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (front centre) and David Knox, Acting CEO of Santos (standing fourth from left).
Gladstone LNG (GLNG) goes online with first LNG production and first shipment of LNG leaving Curtis Island, Queensland and delivered to South Korea – partly supplied with Santos’ Cooper Basin gas, GLNG opens an export channel for central Australian gas.
Santos completes merger with Oil Search Limited, combining two industry leaders and enhancing the company’s growth portfolio and Papua New Guinea operating business. Through the merger, Santos also gains its first North American project in Pikka, located on the North Slope of Alaska.
Pictured: Santos’ assets in the Southern Highlands, PNG (top) and Pikka, Alaska, USA (bottom).