Kua: Juha gas field yet to start production

PRODUCTION of liquefied natural gas out of the Juha petroleum development licence nine (PDL 9) area in Western has not commenced, Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua says.
Kua said this when responding to questions by Western Governor Toboi Awi Yoto about the PNG LNG project being integrated with different PDL areas and that the pipeline had not yet been constructed into Juha.
Yoto also asked why landowners from Juha had not received any royalty payments since the project started.
Kua in response said he was not sure if the reason behind the non-payment royalties but promised to find out and provide a response to Yoto.
“Juha is part of the integrated PNG LNG project,” Kua said.
“There are several areas which have been combined and integrated under the development of the PNG LNG project and Juha is one of them.
“But when it comes to the development (such as royalty payments) of the various PDLs, they stagger it and are doing it one at a time.
“Up until recently, they didn’t complete Angore and Juha for various reasons including court proceedings and injunctions but finally for Angore, we have resolved the issues and now the developer (ExxonMobil Ltd) has started work to build a pipeline to bring it into production.
“For Juha, this has not happened yet.
“There is no pipeline into the PDL 9, Juha area. And no production has taken place out of that licensed area.
“However all the royalty entitlements for the pipeline routes have been up to date, only a few PDL areas are still outstanding.
“Whether Juha is outstanding or whether production has not started or if landowner identification process has not been completed, I’m am not sure.”
Yoto also urged Kua and his department to treat the Juha issue separately from other PNG LNG areas such as in the Highlands.