CSIRO criticised for lack of transparency over gas leak

Internal emails and messages obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws reveal CSIRO staffers were uncomfortable about scrutiny of the agency.

The correspondence followed reporting by the ABC about a secret 18-year leak from Santos's Darwin LNG plant.

CSIRO has been called on to open its books on the scale and impact of the leak for public consideration.

Australia's national science agency scrambled to spin its role in helping fossil fuel giant Santos investigate a secret 18-year leak from its Darwin LNG plant, internal CSIRO messages have revealed.

The ABC exposed the leak and government agencies' knowledge of it last year.

CSIRO was engaged by Santos for a range of services in 2021 and 2024 including to advise on methods used to monitor emissions at the Darwin site.

The science agency staffers sent emails and internal messages revealing how uncomfortable they were with scrutiny of the agency, following the ABC's reporting, noting it made things "difficult and tricky" with the minister, documents released to the Environment Centre NT (ECNT) under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws show.

The staffers openly discussed how some of their responses to questions could be more "fulsome" and went to lengths to note the agency's work did not include direct monitoring of the leak — while also acknowledging internally CSIRO's contract with Santos allowed for direct monitoring.

"These documents suggest to us an ongoing and frankly unacceptable reluctance on behalf of CSIRO to be transparent with the public," said Bree Ahrens, acting Executive Director of the ECNT.

Former NSW Supreme Court judge Anthony Whealy said there was a "distinct impression given that CSIRO have not been entirely frank and open in relation to their dealings in this matter".

"They are a public agency and we should expect them to be open with us. I think the public expect that and the media expect that as well," he said.

In September 2025, the ABC revealed the LNG storage tank at Santos' Darwin LNG plant had been leaking methane into the atmosphere following damage it incurred during commissioning in 2006.

The amount of methane released was estimated to be nearly 100kg per hour — just shy of what would count as a "super-emmitter" under US regulations.

The revelations were widely reported as contributing to the collapse of a $36 billion takeover bid for Santos.

The reporting also revealed a number of state and federal agencies had knowledge of the leak, including CSIRO, which was engaged by Santos to help validate emissions measurement methods.

None of those agencies made the leak public, or informed other government agencies that were considering approving Santos's application to use the damaged LNG tank for decades beyond its planned life.

Santos has since been approved to continue using the tank for another 20 years — an outcome that played a crucial role in the company's development of the controversial Barossa gas field off the north coast of Australia.

The documents show how scrutiny played out inside the agency, and between CSIRO, the minister and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR), which oversees it.

In one explanation about CSIRO's work to DISR, CSIRO said: "In 2024, CSIRO was engaged by Santos to undertake monitoring of the Darwin LNG project site."

Across multiple messages, CSIRO staffers explained the agency also assessed methodology used by Santos to measure the leak, and assessed options for ongoing monitoring.

But internal discussions show the agency was at pains to minimise any impression CSIRO was involved in monitoring of the tank leak. At one point a draft response was edited, with a staffer noting: "I suggest adding wording to reinforce it was 3rd party methods we reviewed to be crystal clear we didn't do any monitoring."

As staff drafted a public statement responding to the ABC story, one staffer shared the agency's contract with Santos. A reply read: "perfect — that's pretty clear… says we can do monitoring… but we didn't."

One staffer then asked the other if they had checked the draft public statement about the ABC report with Santos, saying: "are you going to send our statement to your mate?"

A staffer responds, "All good — I sent to their media chap this morning", noting that Santos would be busy with another story about the leak that day in the Australian Financial Review.

A spokesperson for CSIRO told the ABC: "CSIRO developed and approved its own media response. A copy of the statement was provided to Santos as a courtesy."

In the published statement, CSIRO said the work "did not involve monitoring, prevention or remediation advice related to the leak".

As questions mounted, one staffer working on a response to the ABC said in an internal message; "difficult and tricky — for us too with the minister. god damn it."

The final CSIRO published response said it was correcting "errors" in the ABC report, but no errors were identified in the statement.

The reporting from September last year focused on revelations CSIRO knew about the leak and did not tell other agencies or the public. The FOI documents confirmed the agency knew the size of the leak, with staffers noting it was estimated to be 97.6kg per hour.

The CSIRO spokesperson said the agency's concern was, "that the article conflated CSIRO's work assessing background methane concentrations and a desktop review of third-party methane measurement methods with advice relating to management of the reported leak. CSIRO did not provide monitoring, remediation or leak-management advice".

Ms Ahrens called on CSIRO to open its books on the issue.

"We've had various claims about what the volume of the leak from the Santos facility is, and little to substantiate claims that there is no reason to be concerned about its impact on air quality," she said.

"The only way to resolve these unanswered questions is to put the full set of data and the review on the table for the public to consider."

The possibility of making the data available was raised when CSIRO staffers discussed how to respond to questions from then-Greens leader Senator Larissa Waters.

"Do we take the opportunity to be a bit more fulsome and include the work?" one staffer asked.

The CSIRO spokesperson said: "As is normal when developing responses, different levels of detail and draft formulations were considered. The final statement reflected the information considered necessary to accurately explain the nature and scope of CSIRO's work."

A Santos spokesperson told the ABC the company developed a "leak detection and repair program” in 2025.

"This program is aimed at finding and mitigating any potential fugitives within the facility. This measurement and monitoring will further enhance reporting of fugitive emissions."