[3] Originally Phillips Petroleum Company had plans to design and build a dry gas export pipeline from Bayu-Undan to Timor-Leste.
But in June 2001 it decided to send the gas to Darwin after failing to reach an agreement about fiscal, legal and tax arrangements with the East Timorese government.
As a result grout bags are regularly installed by ROV in an attempt to restore support and to minimise the occurrence of vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) along the pipeline.
[15][16] A by-product of the pigging operation is iron oxide dust (from the internal walls of the pipeline at the welded joints and margins), laced with radioactive NORM, and BTEX from the production wells and process at Bayu-Undan.
Santos intended to continue employing Timor Leste nationals on the remaining Bayu Undan platform as part of the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) process.
[23] Another impact of the 2023 cessation of this pipeline is increased insecurity of gas supply to customers located within the Northern Territory.