Papua LNG full FEED announcement gets Kumul Petroleum’s full support and creates opportunity for additional LNG train for PNG

The announcement of the full front end engineering and design, or FEED, phase of the Papua LNG Project is welcomed by Kumul  Petroleum Holdings Limited, according to managing director, Wapu Sonk. It also paves the way for an additional LNG train that will be owned and operated by KPHL, unlocking previously inaccessible gas reserves and creating significant value for Papua New Guinea.

Mr Sonk said, “Papua LNG is the country’s next large-scale LNG development, and will bring many short and long-term benefits to the nation. Kumul Petroleum is ready to take up the State’s 22.5% share in the project after FID.”

“This project will build on the foundation laid by the PNG LNG Project, reinforcing that Papua New Guinea is a safe and profitable country for international petroleum companies to invest in.”

“Apart from the additional Government revenue that Papua LNG will bring, and the short-term economic boost that project construction will provide, an important component of the brownfield expansion of the Caution Bay LNG site is the provision for extra LNG trains, allowing future expansion of processing facilities.”

Mr Sonk explained that the plant design for the initial four electric-powered 1 mtpa trains for Papua LNG also allowed for the later installation of additional trains, so that as further commercial gas reserves were identified they could feed in and be processed at the Caution Bay site.

Mr Sonk added,” Kumul Petroleum has approximately 2.5 tcf of gas resources in the Kimu, Barikewa, Uramu and Pandora fields in licences where it is Operator. We intend to aggregate this gas to feed into our own KPHL 1mtpa train at Caution Bay. Like all plans, this is subject to engineering and commercial discussions amongst joint venture parties, Government approvals and market conditions, that is international LNG prices, between now and 2030.”

Mr Sonk noted that with the existing two PNG LNG trains and the proposed four Papua LNG trains, and that the additional train proposed by Kumul Petroleum would be the seventh at the Caution Bay site and has the potential to unlock significant value for the country.

“Kumul Petroleum will work with the operators of the PNG and Papua LNG projects to study the tie-in of a new pipeline to the PNG LNG and Papua LNG pipelines, and the co-ordinated operation and maintenance of the additional Kumul LNG train at Caution Bay.”

Mr Sonk stated, “Commercialisation of additional gas is an opportunity totally in the national interest. It means we can develop these gas discoveries, which to date have been stranded, to earn export income from a nationally owned LNG train, while at the same time assisting in the development of a domestic gas market in PNG.”