The ExxonMobil-operated PNG LNG project has sent more than 250 cargoes since it started operations in April 2014 and expects to produce 7.9 million tonnes of the chilled fuel this year, ExxonMobil’s PNG head Andrew Barry said on Monday.
The PNG LNG plant located some 20 kilometers northwest of Port Moresby is able to produce “over 8 million tonnes per annum, an increase of almost 16 percent from the original design specification,” Barry said at a conference in Sydney.
“The benefits of increased production are wide ranging and include additional revenues for the Government of Papua New Guinea, landowners and provincial governments.”
The PNG LNG project includes gas production and processing facilities in the Southern Highlands, Hela, Western, Gulf and Central Provinces of Papua New Guinea.
There are over 700 kilometres of pipelines connecting the facilities, which includes a gas conditioning plant in Hides and the two-train liquefaction facility near Port Moresby.
Besides ExxonMobil and Oil Search, other JV participants are Santos, National Petroleum Company of PNG, JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration, Mineral Resources Development Company, and Petromin PNG Holdings.
New power plant
According to Barry, construction on a new 50-megawatt power plant outside Port Moresby is expected to begin in early 2017.
The power plant will be located near the LNG plant and use gas from the PNG LNG project.
“Upon completion, the new plant will add enough power generation capacity to supply 40 percent of Port Moresby’s peak demand, helping to meet the nation’s growing energy needs using a reliable and cleaner burning source of energy,” Barry said.
The initial project is for 50 megawatts, but it has been designed such that it can be expanded to a total of 200 megawatts as required, he said.
LNG World News Staff