The Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mines and Petroleum has congratulated all parties involved in the execution of a gas agreement for developing the P’nyang Project. Signatories included joint venture partners Santos, ExxonMobil, JX Nippon, and the PNG government.
The agreement was signed at Government House in Port Moresby by Prime Minister Marape, Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua, Peter Larden from ExxonMobil, and Brett Darley from Santos. The agreement is a significant milestone, setting the fiscal framework for the project and supporting project scoping and evaluation.
Anthony Smaré, President of the Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, said the project would deliver gas and condensate through upstream facilities in Western Province, which are linked to the PNG LNG plant close to Port Moresby.
“The P’nyang project has been a long time coming, and all of the partners in the project, led by ExxonMobil PNG, must be commended for their steadfast commitment to ensuring negotiations on this project were resurrected, and now seen to fruition with this signing,” Mr Smaré said.
“The world is moving quickly under a new net-zero paradigm, and thus if we do not bring these projects onstream responsibly and expeditiously, then as a country we may lose that opportunity, and with that associated benefits and revenues in the form of taxation revenue, job and training opportunities, state company revenues, landowner revenues and benefits, and business opportunities for Papua New Guinean entrepreneurs and SMEs.
He added, “It was important that P’nyang, Papua LNG, Wafi and Porgera are progressed in a responsible and expedient manner to significantly boost the economy to help our country overcome its recent economic challenges. This announcement will improve investment confidence in Papua New Guinea internationally.”
