A legal application filed by Indigenous Territorians and environmentalists to stop the Export-Import Bank of Korea from funding a deep-water pipeline for the Santos-led Barossa gas and liquefied natural gas project has been dismissed by the Seoul Central District Court.

The court ruled on Friday that it would not block loans on the project, Reuters reported.

Traditional landowners in the Territory launched legal action in March against KEXIM and Korea Trade Insurance Corp (K-Sure) in the South Korean court to block part funding for $4.7 billion Barossa gas project to be built by Santos in waters north of Darwin with South Korean energy company SK E&S as a major partner.

Both KEXIM and K-Sure had delayed their consideration of the loans and guarantees after the action was taken.

The legal complaint stated that the Indigenous groups from the Tiwi Islands and Larrika Traditional Owners were not appropriately consulted on the Barossa project which planned a 260-km pipeline linking offshore gas facilities to the Darwin LNG export plant. The complainants also stated that the planned pipeline will threaten turtles, dugongs, and other sea life that the islanders depend on.

Santos had not commented while the action was before the courts but had said previously that it had consulted with all stakeholders.

It was also reported that SK E&S, South Korea’s biggest private gas provider, is also facing legal action from a climate activist group for alleged false advertising of the green credentials of the Barossa pipeline project.

The project, comprised of a floating production, storage and offloading vessel, subsea production wells with supporting subsea structures, and a gas export pipeline tied into the existing Bayu-Undan line to the Darwin LNG facility, was at final investment decision in March 2021.

Stakeholders in the Barossa projects included Santos, as the operator and with a 50 per cent holdings; SK E&S, which holds 37.5 per cent and JERA at 12.5 per cent.

The Darwin LNG investors are composed of Santos, as operator with a 43.4 per cent stake; INPEX, with 25 per cent holdings; Eni, with 11 per cent, JERA, 6.1 per cent; and Tokyo Gas which holds 3.1 per cent in the project.