Papua LNG will be delayed by months: PM

PRIME Minister James Marape says Papua LNG Final Investment Decision (FID) will be delayed by some months as the project part works on securing financing.
“Under our watch, we want to define better local content, for instance in the shipping business, or other business that PNG must participate in the construction phase, it is a US$12 billion (K45.6 billion) project today,” he said.
Marape said in Parliament yesterday: “TotalEnergies has given us assurance as the lead partner that they have not abandon the project, it is still on the table and will be developed.
“The upstream construction bid that comes in is supervised by TotalEnergies and the downstream is supervised by ExxonMobil.
“The bids for downstream has been open as we speak, the bids for upstream has also been opened,
“They said the cost has blown up a bit, it is in the interest of the country that everyone must be cost conscious.
“With the Ukraine war that is taking place, the backdrop of Covid-19, the world is a different place, contractors who are also bidding, it is a tight space in terms of bidding, in the construction of the Papua LNG.
“TotalEnergies is pulling back to look at the bid again, to look at whether they could do some cost savings, that has caused a little bit of delay, but none the less, they are working very hard to ensure that the project is not stopped.
“The project will be delayed by a couple of months.
“Once the entire cost is put on the table and all partners, including our own Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited agree, then the project will go ahead.
“It is a US$12 billion project, for our national government and national interest, we are sequencing Papua LNG and P’nyang LNG and Wilderbeest prospect, so exciting time coming up.