The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is climbing during afternoon trade on Wednesday.
This comes after the company announced an acquisition of a crucial gas pipeline to service the east coast domestic market.
At the time of writing, the energy producer's shares are up 0.86% to $7.02 apiece.
Santos procures Hunter Gas Pipeline
Investors are pushing Santos shares into positive territory despite the S&P/ASX 200 Energy (ASX: XEJ) sector shedding 0.36% today.
According to its latest release, Santos advised it has acquired a critical component for delivering gas from Northern Australia.
The Hunter Gas Pipeline owns an approved underground pipeline route from Wallumbilla in Queensland to Newcastle in New South Wales.
As this pipeline passes close to Santos' Narrabri Gas Project, management is seeking to team up with infrastructure developers to service the east coast domestic market.
Santos wants to construct the pipeline and connect it to the Wallumbilla Gas Supply Hub in the shortest timeframe possible.
The pipeline will also be designed to transport hydrogen as customer demand progresses during the energy transition.
Santos' midstream and clean fuels president Brett Woods said:
At a time when the ACCC is forecasting domestic gas shortfalls, our Narrabri project, which is 100 per cent committed to the domestic market, will inject new supply into southern domestic markets and put downward pressure on gas prices for New South Wales businesses, manufacturers and families.
It will make more gas available to cover peak demand periods, especially in circumstances where gas power generators are called on unexpectedly to replace wind, solar and coal outages, as we have seen this winter.
Woods also went on to talk about the next stage of development, adding:
Acquiring the Hunter Gas Pipeline route is an important step for the Narrabri project, with appraisal drilling planned later this year, pending various native title and environmental management plan approvals.
Once fully operational, Narrabri has the potential to deliver more than half NSW's gas demand, creating a more secure, local and affordable supply for businesses, manufacturers and families.
Santos share price snapshot
A choppy 12 months marred by volatile energy prices have led the Santos share price to register a 10% gain.
The company's shares hit a 52-week high of $8.86 on 8 June before tumbling on the back of a gloomy economic outlook.
Listed as the second biggest energy player on the ASX, Santos commands a market capitalisation of roughly $23.59 billion.
