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Figure 5: Petroleum Licence Map of Papua New Guinea. Updated to December 2022 with the department in early 2023. However, environment impact studies (EIS) have been submitted as part of the APDL application process and are now under review by the Conservation Environment Protection Authority (CEPA). Also, social mapping and landowner identification studies (SMLIS) have been completed and submitted on 1 July 2022.
P’nyang LNG project development
With the gas agreement concluded, the project proponents are now mobilising for front-end engineering and design (FEED). This is an essential step before the final investment decision (FID) is announced, which is expected in late 2023 and construction in 2024. The current joint venture (JV) partners to the project are; Total Energies (operator) with 31.1% interest, Exxon Mobil 28.3% interest and Santos 17.7%. Kumul Petroleum Holdings Ltd as the state’s nominee will back-in to acquire the state’s 22.5% equity. 8.2. P’nyang LNG Project The US$11 billion P’nyang development project is the next major LNG project proposed to follow the Papua LNG project. Esso Highlands (EHL) made an application for a new petroleum development licence (APDL13) on 6 February 2015 in connection with the proposed development of the P’nyang gas fields in PRL3 in the North Fly District of Western Province as shown (right). A total of three licence applications; a petroleum development licence (APDL 13), a gas pipeline (APL12), and a condensate pipeline (APL13) pertinent to the project have been submitted to the DPE for approval. After the successful drilling of the P’nyang South 2 well, the NSAI certified P’nyang field resource committed to this project is 4.36 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas (2C). The project is expected to generate up to US$ 44.6 billion in total revenue with a total capital investment estimated at US$ 11.3 billion. The project consists of an upstream development of the P’nyang gas, and downstream development of LNG production at the existing foundation PNG LNG plant site at Caution Bay near POM. In general, the proposed licence comprises production wells, gathering systems and the proposed P’nyang gas conditioning plant (PGCP) within PRL3 (APDL). The PGCP consists of slug handling, separation, gas conditioning and compression equipment to supply dry gas and condensate to the existing PNG LNG project infrastructure. The dry gas will be transported to a tie-in point on the existing PNG LNG gas pipeline (PL 4) near Kutubu for transmission to the foundation PNG LNG plant site (PPFL2) near Port Moresby to be processed into LNG and exported through the existing LNG export facilities. The condensate will be transported to the Kutubu central processing facility (CPF) within Southern Highlands Province. Condensate will be
Source : ExxonMobil
commercialised through the existing oil export infrastructure at Kumul Marine Terminal. P’nyang gas field is considered significant as its development may trigger and provide a catalyst for development of the stranded gas fields in western Papua Basin. The P’nyang resource combined with the rest of stranded gas in the western Papua Basin has an estimated excess of up to 16 trillion cubic feet of gas (tcf) and around 200 million barrels (mmbbl) of condensate. P’nyang LNG gas agreement was signed on 22 February 2022, with the fiscal stability agreement under way between the state and project proponents. This further paves the way for the project to enter into front-end engineering and design (FEED) before the announcement of a final investment decision (FID). In the P’nyang gas agreement, the state secured 34.5% equity, more than 22.5% in the Total-led Papua LNG project and 19.6% in the ExxonMobil-led PNG LNG project. The state also secured 3% production levy, compared to the 2% in the Papua LNG project. Outstanding regulatory compliance requirements include development of a national content plan, conducting of a development forum and grant of a petroleum development licence (PDL). The P’nyang project proponents include Esso (P’nyang) PNG Ltd (21.01%), Oil Search (PNG) Ltd (32.50%), Ampolex (Papua New Guinea) Ltd (27.98%) and Merlin Petroleum Company (12.50%). 8.3. Pasca Gas Project The Pasca field is located offshore in the waters of Gulf Province,
9km south of Port Moresby as shown (next page). Twinza Oil (PNG) Ltd (the operator) made an application on 30 June 2015 for a petroleum development licence (APDL) in connection with the development of the Pasca gas field in PPL 328. The Pasca A gas-condensate project will be developed in two phases; • Phase I (gas re-cycling and liquid stripping): Production and sale of condensate and LPG while reinjecting dry gas into the reservoir (six to seven years). • Phase II (gas blowdown): Production and export of LNG while continuing the production of condensate and LPG. The Pasca gas field will be developed offshore using a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. This production concept has never been used in PNG before. If the project is successfully developed as proposed, Twinza Oil will be the first company to develop an offshore gas field in
Locations for PNG’s major oil and gas discoveries under development
Source : Horizon Oil
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