PNG exports first LNG

Papua New Guinea will export Liquidified Natural Gas starting today. PNG Treasurer Patrick Pruaitch told Parliament yesterday that the loading of the first cargo of liquefied natural gas from the PNG LNG Project has began. A ceremoney was was held  at the LNG plant outside Port Moresby to signal the first LNG loading.

When asked by Opposition how the revenue from the export of gas would help mitigate the declining kina value, Mr Pruaitch said revenue coming in will be parked in a trust account awaiting government and landowner instruments to be set up.

"Once we have the structures then funds will be remitted according to those entities," Mr Pruaitch said.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Papua New Guinea recently cautioned the Government and other stakeholders not to raise expectations of windfall revenue inflows in the first year of production.

"Export receipts and revenue for the government may be minimal and therefore expectations of windfall revenue and any associated appreciation of the kina might not materialise in the near term," the bank said.

The PNG LNG Project is the largest resource project ever undertaken in PNG.

The project is expected to produce more than nine trillion cubic feet of gas over an estimated 30 years of operations.

The gas is sourced from the Hides, Angore and Juha gas fields in the Hela Province and from associated gas in the Kutubu, Agogo, Moran and Gobe gas fields in Southern Highlands Province.

The gas is conditioned at the Hides gas conditioning plant in Hela Province and then transported by gas pipeline to an LNG plant located approximately 20km northwest of the main city of Port Moresby. ExxonMobil said the PNG LNG export terminal just outside Port Moresby is 24/7 operational. Ships will load every three to four days.

The gas will be exported to Asian markets in China, Japan and Taiwan. The US$19billion gas project is operated by ExxonMobil PNG Ltd, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corporation (33.2 percent). Other participants included Oil Search Ltd 29 percent, National Petroleum Company of PNG (PNG Government) - 16.8 percent, Santos 13.5 percent, Nippon Oil- 4.7 percent and Mineral Resources Development Company - PNG landowners - 2.8 percent.

PNG Today / Post Courier