Total Becomes Operator of Papua LNG Project

France’s Total has become operator of the PRL 15 joint venture, including the Papua LNG project, effective from 1 August 2015, Oil Search, a partner in the project, said Monday.

This follows the unanimous vote by all joint venture participants at the end of February to appoint Total as operator of the joint venture, Oil Search said adding that the Papua New Guinea Department of Petroleum and Energy has been advised of the effective date of the change of operator.

An operator transition agreement has been agreed between Total and the former operator, InterOil Corp. Under this agreement, InterOil will drill the Antelope 4 sidetrack well, which is expected to commence drilling shortly, on behalf of Total, while the French firm will operate the Antelope 6 well.

Last month, partners in the PRL 15 joint venture endorsed recommendations from Total for key project infrastructure sites for development of the Elk-Antelope gas field in Papua New Guinea. 

Caution Bay near Port Moresby has been selected as the site for the LNG plant. The already operational PNG LNG plant is adjacent to the selected site.

The central processing facility for the Elk-Antelope gas field, on which the project is based, will be near the Purari River in the Gulf province, about 360 km north-west of Port Moresby, and will be connected to the LNG facility by onshore and offshore gas and condensate pipelines. 

Selection of the final development concept, including the size and capacity of facilities, is expected in early 2016 when appraisal of the Elk-Antelope field has been completed. This will be followed by front-end engineering and design with early works scheduled to begin later in 2016.