Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
MELBOURNE, June 16 -- Norway's Flex LNG Ltd. has signed a heads of agreement with Rift Oil PLC to jointly develop and market Rift's onshore Papua New Guinea natural gas reserves in the country's western highlands.
The plan involves piping the gas to an offshore location in the Papuan Gulf, where a floating liquefaction plant will be stationed.
Flex said the project is expected to come on stream during first-half 2012 and to produce about 1.5 million tonnes/year of LNG.
The company adds that selection of a floating LNG option enables the project to come on line 2 years earlier than a traditional onshore plant.
Rift recently gained a 100% interest in Papua New Guinea licenses PPL 261 and PPL 235 in an out-of-court settlement with former partner Austral Pacific Energy Ltd.
PPL 235 contains Douglas gas field, discovered in 2006, which has reserves of about 800 bcf. Rift currently is drilling Puk Puk-1, which is targeting estimated reserves of 226 bcf in a nearby prospect to Douglas.
Both Rift and Flex are amenable to processing third-party gas reserves that are commercially stranded in southwest Papua New Guinea and that can be tied into the project.
