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PAPUA NEW GUINEA LNG OUTLOOK BRIGHTER

Oct. 5, 1992

Prospects for a liquefied natural gas export project in Papua New Guinea are brightening. A group led by Mobil Oil Corp. last week tested 43 MMcfd of dry gas in an appraisal well delineating Pandora field in the Gulf of Papua. That follows a hefty flow rate from a shallower zone in the same well the previous week. Mobil and partners are seeking to prove enough gas reserves in the Gulf of Papua to support a proposed LNG export project that would incorporate onshore Papua New Guinea discoveries

Prospects for a liquefied natural gas export project in Papua New Guinea are brightening.

A group led by Mobil Oil Corp. last week tested 43 MMcfd of dry gas in an appraisal well delineating Pandora field in the Gulf of Papua. That follows a hefty flow rate from a shallower zone in the same well the previous week.

Mobil and partners are seeking to prove enough gas reserves in the Gulf of Papua to support a proposed LNG export project that would incorporate onshore Papua New Guinea discoveries as well as those in the Gulf of Papua.

Mobil BX-1 appraisal well's 43 MMcfd flow rate came from a 22 m interval below 1,978 m. Mechanical restrictions prevented a stabilized flow. The well flowed 10.3 MMcfd of gas from a 9 m interval the week before.

BX-1 is about 8 km northeast of the 1988 Pandora discovery well that flowed at a rate of 57 MMcfd of 97% methane dry gas. At the time, the discovery was declared uneconomic with potential reserves pegged at anywhere from 100 bcf to a possible 4 tcf.

If Pandora reserves are proved at the higher end of that range, industry analysts say, an LNG export project could be commissioned by the late 1990s.

Interests in the Pandora prospect are Mobil 40%, Japan Gas & Oil Co. 30%, Ampolex Ltd. 10%, International Petroleum Corp. 10%, Oil Search Ltd. 5%, and Secar Niugini 5% (OGJ, Aug. 17, p. 46).