Govt will move Gulf LNG ‘forward’

[Justin94360]

Govt will move Gulf LNG ‘forward’

Blair Price Wednesday, 15 August 2012 INTEROIL executives met with Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and Petroleum and Energy Minister William Duma this week in a sign that the process to find an operator for InterOil’s Gulf LNG project could be making headway. InterOil's Antelope-2 well flowed 705 million cubic feet of gas per day and yielded 11,200 barrels of condensate per day in late 2009 Duma has long criticised InterOil and its partners for not honouring the project agreement struck with the government in late 2009, especially over the condition the project will have a “world class” LNG operator. Back in October InterOil started a formal process run by three investment banks to bring in a suitable LNG operator for the project, which is based on its Elk-Antelope discoveries in Gulf province. There has been no outcome since and in June Duma warned InterOil that its project agreement with the government would be terminated if the commitment was not met by November 28. Yet the outcome of the recent election appears to have softened Duma’s stance as O’Neill, who has been supportive of InterOil, was returned as PM by a strong margin. In an interview this week with Platts Duma said he remained optimistic about the project’s prospects. "We want to help them talk to the majors,” Duma reportedly said. “They [InterOil] have been in the country a long time and we don't want to put them under pressure. We want to work with them.” In a conference call held yesterday, InterOil chief executive officer Phil Mulacek provided more encouraging news. “We've reached a stage where we're absolutely confident that any concerns with the state will be met in regards to completing the LNG project in compliance with the project agreement,” he said. “This was confirmed this evening in meetings with the re-elected head of petroleum, Mr Duma.” Mulacek said conforming and non-conforming bids had come from international oil companies, national oil companies and utilities. He said O’Neill “has confirmed the current government will be ready to move the project forward”. “The end result of this partnership to process is now paved to proceed and to fully satisfy all the terms of the 2009 LNG project agreement,” Mulacek said. So far the only confirmed interest has been from a consortium of Korean Gas Corporation, Japan Petroleum Exploration Company and InterOil’s condensate stripping plant project partner Mitsui. Royal Dutch Shell recently revealed it had held negotiations with InterOil over the project, however, an industry source recently told PNGIndustryNews.net that Shell is not in an ongoing discussion with InterOil. Chevron, which once had a big presence in PNG, is also speculated to be involved in Gulf LNG project talks. But last month a well-connected source told PNGIndustryNews.net Chevron had no specific plans to re-enter PNG at this time. The source further said PNG was just on Chevron’s “watch list” but it might consider any opportunity that met its strategic and business objectives. The time lost on the Gulf LNG operator hunt so far has impacted the project timelines. In the conference call, Mulacek said first exports could be in late 2015 or early 2016, “depending on the partner”. As of last year, the Gulf LNG project was targeting 5 million tonnes per annum in 2014, with 3Mtpa from an Energy World Corporation-designed onshore modular LNG plant in Gulf province and the rest from a floating LNG facility. There is also a proposed ramp-up aiming to hit up to 8Mtpa from the total project through 2015 and 2016. Back in 2009, the project was based on a 7.6-10.6Mtpa LNG plant near Port Moresby.

[freddiekingman]

Im wondering what he means by this : someone help me here

"In the conference call, Mulacek said first exports could be in late 2015 or early 2016, “depending on the partner”.

[Justin94360]

Each will have there own timelines for getting it built. For example I would imagine Exxon could be a lot quicker to production than one of the other SM's who are not in country all ready and have just gone through the process.

[freddiekingman]

..so we can assume that 2015 (the fastest option) would be exxon..

[Justin94360]

Would be nice wouldn't it? As would some communication coming out of todays meeting with O'Neill and Duma. Should be finished by now.

[ValueSleuth]

..so we can assume that 2015 (the fastest option) would be exxon..

The fastest partner would be EWC

VS