With a glut of gas coming onto the market, huge upfront capital costs and wary customers, CSM projects, such as the one Santos hopes to exploit from the Liverpool Plains foodbowl area, are looking less economically viable than ever.

Financial viability and technical feasibility of CSM, and CSM for LNG in particular, has of course been questioned before by market analysts and other players in the LNG market, like Woodside’s CEO.  Santos’ response to these shakier market conditions has of course been a marketing splurge, including sponsorship of the Australian cycling Tour Down Under with Santos’ latest tagline “Not just an energy company, a company with energy”.

Or more accurately: an aquifer-draining energy company with a low quality, polluting carbon source no one wants to buy! (Shhhhush don’t tell the shareholders!!)