PNG Government Green Lights Papua LNG Gas Agreement

Papua New Guinea’s government announced its official support for the Papua LNG Gas Agreement. The announcement came from the Minister for Petroleum, Kerenga Kua. In short, Minister Kua gave the green light for the project’s operator, Total, to continue per the terms of the agreement.

The Papua LNG Project will be supported by a joint ventured called PRL 15, comprised of Total SA, Oil Search, and ExxonMobil. Next, PRL 15 will work with the PNG government to determine a National Content Plan which will determine local citizen and business involvement.

Oil Search’s Managing Director, Peter Botten stated, “We are pleased that the PNG Cabinet (National Executive Council), has completed its review of the Papua LNG Gas Agreement and has validated the Agreement as executed on 9 April 2019.” Additionally, Mr. Botten commented on the economic benefit of the project and job creation for the country.

Going forward, Oil Search will work on finalizing an agreement for the P’nyang gas field. Also, the company will work to commence activities for front end engineering design (FEED) for the LNG train integration for the Associated Gas Expansion (AGX) project, which Oil Search operates.