Esso Highlands, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, has secured an additional US$ 1.5 billion in debt financing for its US$ 19 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea.
Oil Search Limited, which retains a 29% interest in the PNG LNG project, announced that the supplemental funds will take the total project financing facility to US$ 15.5 billion.
The US$ 1.5 billion will help cover overruns at the 6.9 million tpy LNG development, where estimated costs climbed to US$ 19 billion from US$ 15.7 billion last year.
“We are pleased that the supplemental project financing has been completed and all funding is now in place to complete the Project on time and within the revised budget”, said Peter Botten, Managing Director at Oil Search.
The Papua New Guinea project remains on track to achieve its first deliveries of LNG in the second half of 2014.
The LNG project is the country’s largest resources development, and could raise GDP by as much as 20%.
Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward