Papua LNG plant site set: Total

By SHIRLEY MAULUDU
THE decision to have the plant site for the Papua LNG project at Caution Bay outside Port Moresby is final, according to Total E&P PNG Limited.
Managing director Philippe Blanchard told a business breakfast in Port Moresby yesterday it was the best location they found.
“Every time we go to the communities, and every time we face the government, we are hearing a no-gas policy or we will not export the gas, we want to have the LNG plant in the Gulf,” he said.
“We have checked all the locations along Port Moresby to Orokolo Bay. It started in May 2014 to July 2015. We checked 14 sites. We shortlisted six and conducted specific studies in three of them. And at the end, the best location is Caution Bay here close to Port Moresby.”
He said there were good reasons for that decision.
“Here in Gulf, it’s open waters. If you want to locate here an LNG plant, you have to build a jetty that is going to be a twice the length of the existing one, which means twice the cost,” Blanchard said.
“You will have to perform dredging – and it is open sea. If you want to create the availability for an LNG tanker to be able to berth, you should be able to protect it against the wave.
“All these are costing a huge amount of money, all these are causing huge impact on the environment.
“So the decision we are making are sound and reasonable. So we ended up with Caution Bay. And that is honestly the best place. There is no other location than Caution Bay. Full stop.”
Blanchard noted that current LNG prices were low and to make a project competitive and profitable, costs have to be reduced.