Offshore staff

PARIS – Papua New Guinea’s government and Total have remobilized project teams and resources for the Papua LNG development.

The project has been delayed by COVID-19-related issues, but now looks set to advance, following a meeting between Total Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné and a delegation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) officials.

The plan now is to initiate the FEED early in 2022 and prepare for a final investment decision in 2023. It follows the signature of the fiscal stability agreement and the award of the license extension this February.

Papua LNG will produce gas from the onshore Elk and Antelope discoveries in block PRL-15, for onward transportation through a 320-km (199-mi) offshore/onshore pipeline to a site in Caution Bay.

Production will then be liquefied in two trains with a total capacity of 5.6 Mt/yr, integrated to the existing PNG LNG facilities in Caution Bay.

Total has a 31.1% operated interest in PRL-15. Other partners are ExxonMobil (28.7%) and Oil Search (17.7%), post the State back-in right of 22.5%.