Doesn't this sound very familiar to what people are hearing at the moment? Wonder who's really steering the ship?

Mulacek wants a ‘win-win’

Monday, 19 August 2013Blair Price INTEROIL founder Phil Mulacek is not too concerned about “dates” when it comes to negotiations over the Elk-Antelope field in Papua New Guinea and would like the gas to be used to expand the PNG LNG project, plus host an LNG project in Gulf province. PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare and InterOil CEO Phil Mulacek at Elk-4's record gas flow When asked whether ExxonMobil’s exclusive period of negotiations with InterOil over the Elk-Antelope field had ended, Mulacek responded “not as a director” of the company, but as its “second-largest individual shareholder”. “In practice, I would not care or be concerned on any dates – it is immaterial – the key drivers are the underlying value split for all,” Mulacek told PNGIndustryNews.net. While InterOil’s Michael Hession, who succeeded the InterOil founder as CEO in July, does not want InterOil to operate an LNG project, Mulacek still favours using the Elk-Antelope gas to expand the Exxon-led PNG LNG project and to underpin a separate LNG project in Gulf province. “The development cost upstream for Elk and Antelope must be lower by $US6 billion to $12 billion and must lower risk for ExxonMobil, than the current Highlands project [PNG LNG],” Mulacek said in relation to the negotiations. “And the value for InterOil shareholders is: a) partial sale with some cash, b) ExxonMobil name and lower risk, c) expansion growth in the LNG Gulf Project with stronger economics. “The key issues are public. We are all aware the Gulf [province] wants development of LNG in the Gulf and as a major shareholder I agree. I also agree this can be balanced with gas to help ExxonMobil for a faster Train #3 expansion [of PNG LNG], so everyone and all stakeholders can win-win.” InterOil has previously held plans to develop at least 3.8 million tonnes per annum of LNG capacity through its Gulf LNG project in the province, based on the Elk-Antelope field. Petroleum Minister William Duma and Gulf province parliamentarians are against processing the Elk-Antelope gas outside of the province, which is a blow to plans of selling 4.6 trillion cubic feet of this gas to help expand the ExxonMobil-led PNG LNG project. The field in licence PRL 15 has 9.07Tcf of initial recoverable sales gas according to GLJ Petroleum Consultant’s best-case estimate. Click here to read the rest of today's news stories. http://www.pngindustrynews.net/storyview.asp?storyid=801571913

I was just at the Philadelphia Eagles training facility. (For those who don't know, their head coach Chip Kelly is very into sports science, eating/sleeping right, etc. The former head coach, Andy Reid, was a rather large offensive lineman type. When Chip came in the cafeteria offerins changed quite a bit to being more healthy.)  As part of the tour that evening, we had a chance to eat in the player's cafeteria. Very nice food. Anyway, right next to the beef serving area was a large sign with this Yogi Berra quote "You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I am not hungry enough to eat six."

Yogi was a national treasure!

'Spartina' pid='39435' datel Wrote:And ioc is gonna pay us cash too - which is as good as money.

Thanks to all for a good morning chuckle!  Ask Yogi what time it is and he would say "ya mean now".

(03-20-2014, 12:05 AM)Tree Wrote: Plan all along was to feed XOM expansion and host a 2nd LNG Project,........

Hi Tree,

Just a bit of wild speculation on my part.

PNGLNG plant was originally designed to take 5 LNG trains.

Now let us make a wild assumption for the moment and assume the possibility of XOM getting a slice into PRL 15 from the current stake holders somehow (some sort of sell down).

Let us also assume PRL 15 proves up enough gas for 2 LNG trains and the current partners of PNGLNG scrape together and prove up enough gas for one train from their own resources.

If these resources  together providing enough gas for 3 trains (the extras what PNGLNG is designed for) and with XOM also a stake holder in PRL 15, the probability of the E/A gas being directed to PNGLNG plant would be  high.

This would give IOC a stake around 15% into 2 trains at PNGLNG and some more money also from XOM buy in. It would  leave all the other IOC gas resources looking for a stand alone LNG plant at a later date when they get proved.

It would bring E/A gas on line faster than otherwise.

It would increase the PPS of IOC possible faster than any other development path and bring it ramping up to $300 to $400 mark within a few more years.

(or am I dreaming too much?)