Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
MELBOURNE, Nov. 5 -- ExxonMobil Corp. and its joint venture partners completed the front-end engineering and design phase for their Papua New Guinea LNG project.
All that is needed before a final investment decision for the project are a benefit-sharing agreement with the Papua New Guinea government, expected in the next few weeks, and ExxonMobil finalizing loan finance as well as sales and purchase agreements with customers.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare said the project would help transform the economy and raise living standards in the country.
About 60,000 landowners in remote rural areas will be direct beneficiaries of royalties and dividends in addition to the increased capacity of the national, provincial, and local governments to improve infrastructure and services.
ExxonMobil and its partners are already implementing a number of programs, including work on building training facilities for 1,000 people at Juni in the Southern Highlands and in Port Moresby.
Work will be carried out to help landowner companies via the provision of jobs and cash dividends.
The Papua New Guinea LNG project will cost $15 billion and have the capacity to produce 6.6 million tonnes/year of LNG. The country’s Department of Environment and Conservation approved its environmental impact statement.
