TotalEnergies speeds development of second PNG LNG project ort Moresby | TotalEnergies, Santos and ExxonMobil have begun full engineering and design work on their $US10 billion ($14.86 billion) Papua LNG project, as the long awaited and much heralded development edges closer to materialising.
Papua LNG is on course to be the Pacific island country’s second gas project, and PNG Prime Minister James Marape hopes the development will spur much needed economic growth in a country where large amounts of the population live below the poverty line.
The PNG LNG venture near Port Moresby has benefited from stronger gas prices. AdvantagePNG
Design work on the upstream, gas production side of the project, involving tapping the Elk and Antelope fields in the eastern Papuan Basin, started in July 2022, and this will now be extended to be ready for construction that could begin as soon as 2024.
TotalEnergies – the project lead – also confirmed the use of four electric LNG trains to process gas at the 6 million tonnes-a-year project. The use of the revolutionary new technology for processing gas will ensure lower emissions and better efficiency.
The electric trains will be supplemented by two of the existing conventional trains used at the PNG LNG facility.
TotalEnergies also plans to bury almost 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year at its planned Papua LNG project, which it said is likely to be world-first.
“The integrated FEED entry is a significant step in the development of the Papua LNG project,” said Julien Pouget, senior vice president Asia Pacific for exploration and production and renewables at TotalEnergies.
“This project, strongly supported by the Papua New Guinea State, will contribute to the security of LNG supply, especially for customers in Asia, where LNG can substitute coal for power generation and participate in a substantial reduction of CO2 emissions in the region.”
A final investment decision by the venture to construct the project is anticipated around the end of 2023, with production start-up targeted by late 2027 or early 2028.
Should Papua LNG proceed, gas from Elk and Antelope - which lie inland from the Gulf of Papua - is to be transported through a 320-kilometre onshore and offshore pipeline to the PNG LNG site at Caution Bay north of Port Moresby.
PNG Prime Minister James Marape hailed the milestone. “Our country will have two LNG projects, running side-by-side,” Mr Marape said in a speech in Port Moresby.
TotalEnergies speeds development of second PNG LNG project (afr.com)