PNG LNG Receives Tanker

The Papua New Guinea LNG facility has received a cooldown cargo to aid in the restart process for the plant which shut down due to an earthquake on February 26, an ExxonMobil spokesperson said April 4.

“Exxon Mobil PNG has imported an LNG cargo to the PNG LNG facilities near Port Moresby. The imported LNG will help to maintain the temperature of our LNG tanks and marine terminal loading facilities to avoid a lengthy re-cooling period when we restart,” the spokesperson said.

The purchase of the cargo, however, does not indicate any change to the expected resumption of operations at PNG, which is scheduled for the end of April, she said. “A small amount of gas is used as a fuel source for the plant’s gas turbine generators, which help keep the plant in safe operating condition. These generators are also continuing to supply some of Port Moresby’s power demand,” she added.

Oil Search said a day earlier that its central gas processing facility (CPF) in PNG has resumed operations following a five-week shut in after the earthquake. The CPF is integral to the operations of the PNG LNG and is ready to go once the overall project restarts production, it said.

PNG LNG is operated by ExxonMobil (33.2%), with Santos (13.5%), National Petroleum Company of PNG (16.8%), JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration Company (4.7%), Mineral Resources Development (2.8%), and Oil Search (29%) holding interests in the project.