Exxon Mobil Corporation has shipped the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US$ 19 billion PNG LNG project ahead of schedule.
PNG LNG project
The PNG LNG project, operated by ExxonMobil PNG Limited, is expected to produce over 9 trillion ft3 of gas over its estimated 30 years of operations. The first cargo is bound for Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. (TEPCO) in Japan. Production from the first train started in April and production from the second train has also started as additional wells came online.
Construction of PNG LNG began in 2010, and took over 190 million work hours to complete. At its peak, the project employed over 21 000 people.
Comments
Neil W. Duffin, President of ExxonMobil Development Company
“The PNG LNG project exemplifies ExxonMobil’s leadership in project execution, advanced technologies and marketing capabilities. Our demonstrated expertise will enable us to progress other LNG opportunities in our portfolio, including expansion opportunities in Papua New Guinea and to meet growing global demand. Disciplined project execution has enabled us to supply Asia’s increasing energy needs and will benefit the people of Papua New Guinea for decades.”
Hon. Peter O’Neill, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister
“This project has brought significant economic benefits to our country that will last for generations to come. Not only will the people of Papua New Guinea now benefit, their children and grandchildren will continue to enjoy the benefits and positive effects from this valuable resource development for many years to come.”
Liquefaction and storage
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. Approximately 435 miles of pipeline connect the facilities, which include a gas conditioning plant and liquefaction and storage facilities with capacity of 6.9 million tpa of LNG.
Customers and operators
The four major customers for the project’s output are China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. (TEPCO), Osaka Gas Co. Ltd., and CPC Corp. Taiwan.
In addition to ExxonMobil PNG Limited, co-venturers are Oil Search Limited, National Petroleum Company of PNG, Santos Ltd., JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp., Mineral Resources Development Company and Petromin PNG Holdings Limited.
Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward