Australia's third largest oil production company, Santos Ltd has announced that the proposed Bonaparte floating LNG venture with GDF Suez SA off the northen coast may require another partner. 

Santos Chief Executive Officer David Knox told reporters in Sydney said, "There probably is room for another party." The project's total costs, according to estimates by Citigroup Inc, would cost between US$8 billion and US$10 billion.

Santos is awaiting an investment decision on whether to push on with the Bonaparte project by 2015, according to Knoz. GDF Suez, the largest utility firm in Europe in terms of market value, said that a decision would probably be made by the end of 2014.

Santos and GDF Suez are just a few of the energy companies seeking to follow the steps of Royal Dutch Shell Plc in the development of projects that convert gas into liquid on giant tankers off Australia. This would help in avoiding costs as the expenses of building onshore plants continue to rise. 

Bonaparte LNG would be located off Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It won federal government approval, with Santos holding 40% and GDF Suez holding 60% and is projected to produce output by 2018.