Papua LNG deal seen as significant milestone for country

The National Business

The Papua liquefied natural gas agreement is expected to be signed at the conclusion of the PNG Petroleum and Energy Summit in Port Moresby next month.
This was announced by Petro-leum Minister Dr Fabian Pok.
Noting this would be a significant milestone for the country with a projected doubling in LNG exports to 18 million tonnes annually, Pok said the Government hoped to conclude detailed terms for the proposed agreement by mid-March.
Other key points made by Pok included:

  • All future gas projects will include a domestic market obligation with 2 per cent to 15 per cent of total resources targeted for domestic use with the proportion dependent on the level of gas and condensate reserves;
  • there will be provision for third-party access to gas pipelines;
  • terms will also be set for national content for domestic supply of goods and services;
  • a National Petroleum Authority bill will be tabled in Parliament; and,
  • A gas hub should be created in Western with the P’nyang gas field playing a lynchpin role.

On the Petroleum Authority bill, Pok said benefits it would bring in terms of management of the hydrocarbons sector included a conducive regulatory regime for issues of exploration, production and marketing licences.
Pok said ExxonMobil had accepted a separate gas agreement for P’nyang with new fiscal terms for upstream and downstream development.
Plans are being finalised for additional gas-fired power generation for Port Moresby with a study underway for additional electricity generation at Hides in Hela.
Noting that plans were in hand to finalise the clan-vetting exercise for PNG LNG Project landowners by the end of the first quarter of this year.
Pok said future landowner identification would need to be completed prior to construction of any future gas project.