OSL happy with project’s progress

OIL Search, a major partner in the PNG LNG project, is happy with progress of work on the project, according to chairman Brian Horwood.
Oil Search holds a 29% stake in the PNG LNG project, with major participating interest Esso Highlands as operator (33.2%), National Petroleum Company of PNG (PNG government, 16.6%), Santos Limited (13.5%), JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration (4.7%), Mineral Resources Development Company (PNG landowners, 2.8 %) and Petromin PNG Holdings Limited (0.2%).
“Major construction progress was made on all facets of the PNG LNG Project during 2011, with the operator, Esso Highlands, doing an excellent job of project execution,” Horwood told shareholders at its annual general meeting in Port Moresby last week,
“At the plant site near Port Moresby, the landscape has been completely transformed.” 
Horwood said that steelwork erection for both LNG trains was well advanced and the outer shells of the LNG tanks and substructure for the jetty were close to completion. 
“The offshore pipelay is nearly complete, while the onshore pipeline has made good progress inland from the coast and is now approaching Kutubu.  
“Visible changes are also apparent in the Highlands, both at the Komo airfield, where earthmoving productivity has increased markedly, and at the Hides gas conditioning plant,” Horwood said.
He said last year, Oil Search successfully completed a range of LNG-related modifications to its oil field processing and liquids export facilities.