Santos turns to solar for Cooper basin pumping

Oil and gas major Santos will reduce its production emissions with an Australian-first roll out of 100% renewable energy to power its oil well operations in the remote Cooper basin in South Australia and Queensland, following a grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena).

The project to convert beam pumps on oil wells to solar and batteries at 56 sites will cost about A$16-million, with Arena contributing A$4.2-million or about 25%.