Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The $19-billion Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (PNG LNG) project has started production ahead of schedule.
Australian energy major Santos, which owns a 13.5% interest in the project, reported on Tuesday that production from the first LNG train would increase over the coming weeks, and the first cargo would likely be shipped to Asian markets before mid-year.
Work on the second train was also progressing, and LNG production from this unit was expected to start within the next several weeks.
The PNG LNG project is an integrated development that includes gas production and processing facilities in the Southern Highlands, Hela, Western, Gulf and Central provinces of Papua New Guinea.
More than 700 km of pipeline connect the facilities, which include a gas conditioning plant in Hides and liquefaction and storage facilities near Port Moresby with capacity of 6.9-million tonnes a year.
“Delivery of the PNG LNG project is a key step in Santos’ strategy to become a major LNG supplier to Asia. PNG LNG will quadruple Santos’ LNG production once the project reaches full output,” Santos MD David Knox said.
ExxonMobil is the operator of the joint venture, with other partners also including Oil Search, National Petroleum Company of PNG, JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration, Mineral Resources Development Company and Petromin PNG Holdings.