PNG LNG firms up final customer
EXXONMOBIL’S PNG LNG liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea is now on the last lap of its race towards financial close with the signing of the final sales and purchase agreement with Taiwan’s CPC Corporation.
Under the contract, PNG LNG will supply CPC with about 1.2 million tonnes of LNG per annum for a 20-year period.
With the finalisation of the agreement, all of the project’s production capacity of 6.6MMtpa has been committed on a long-term basis, allowing the joint venture to finalise financing arrangements with lenders. This is expected in the current quarter.
ExxonMobil Gas and Power Marketing vice president Ron Billings said the agreement marked a major step forward for PNG LNG, while Oil Search managing director Peter Botten said “the way is now clear to move forward to financial close”.
The PNG LNG project, which will take gas from Oil Search’s permits in PNG, is expected to cost about $US15 billion ($A16.6 billion) and will be located near Port Moresby.
Partners in the project are operator ExxonMobil (33.2%), Oil Search (29%), IPBC (16.6%), Santos (13.5%), Nippon Oil (4.7%), MRDC (2.8%) and Petromin (0.2%).
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
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