LNG

Oil Search, the Australian-listed company based in Papua New Guinea, said that discussions were continuing between PNG LNG plant operator ExxonMobil and the Oceania nation’s government on the LNG expansion project as cargo deliveries increased in the third quarter.

Oil Search, the Papua New Guinea-focused oil and gas company listed in Australia, reported an 8 percent drop in net profits because of lower prices as Managing Director Peter Botten handed over to his successor while expressing hope that the delay in the PNG LNG expansion project was only temporary.

Papua New Guinea said it was preparing to start talks with ExxonMobil Corp. and partners in one of two feed-gas projects to negotiate better terms for the government and its holdings in the development of the PNG LNG expansion.

Papua New Guinea has named former Finance Minister James Marape as the nation’s new Prime Minister after a week-long crisis that has raised concerns about the timetable for the Oceania nation’s liquefaction natural gas expansion project.

Major oil and gas companies operating in Papua New Guinea have signed a preliminary agreement with the Oceania nation, currently hosting Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Port Moresby, that opens the way for expansion of LNG production.

Australia-listed Oil Search, a Papua New Guinea LNG stakeholder and field operator, said the liquefaction and export plant near Port Moresby would be reopened for production in early May after it conducted a field trip to assess damage and also to under-score the continued progress of expansion plans.

Australian energy company Santos, a shareholder in three Asia-Pacific LNG plants, has acquired a stake in a new exploration and production play near significant gas discoveries in Papua New Guinea where the Adelaide-based operator already participates in the PNG LNG venture and its expansion project.