Exxon Operated PNG LNG Project Operating at Full Capacity

ExxonMobil operated PNG LNG project is now operating at full capacity after starting ahead of schedule this year.

On Monday, Exxon’s PNG unit told Bloomberg that the milestone follows an increase in output in the last few months.

“Having reached full capacity within three months of startup is exceptionally good performance by comparison with most international LNG projects,” Neil Beveridge, a Hong Kong-based oil and gas analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., told the news agency.

The first shipment of LNG from the $19 billion project left Papua New Guinea in May this year, carrying a cargo bound for Japan for Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. (TEPCO).

Production from the first train started in April, and production from the second train has also started as additional wells came online.

The PNG LNG Project is an integrated development that includes gas production and processing facilities in the Southern Highlands, Hela, Western, Gulf and Central provinces of Papua New Guinea. More than 700 kilometres of pipeline connect the facilities, which include a gas conditioning plant in Hides, and liquefaction and storage facilities near Port Moresby with project capacity of 6.9 million tonnes of LNG per year.

The Project is expected to produce more than 9 trillion cubic feet of gas over the estimated 30 years of operations.

The PNG LNG Project will provide a long-term supply of LNG to four major customers in the Asia region including China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. (TEPCO), Osaka Gas Co. Ltd., and CPC Corp. Taiwan.