Total’s Papua LNG Given the Green Light

According to a press statement issued by Kerenga Kua, Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Petroleum, the PNG Government has now cleared Total to proceed “full steam ahead” with the long-awaited Papua LNG project.

Following negotiations last month in Singapore, the PNG Government and Total have agreed to:

• Development of a collaborative National Content Plan
• Negotiations regarding third party access
• Option of the State acquiring a participating interest
• Option of using LNG carriers in which a participating interest is owned by the State

The press release outlines insights provided by the Government regarding a new way forward when approaching future licencing in mining and petroleum and plans to move into “a system based on production arrangements (“PSA”)”.

The next stages for the multi-billion project will be to develop the National Content Plan and continue with Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) works. Results of FEED activities are expected to make way for a Final Investment Decision (FID), meaning the project would be on track to begin production from 2024.

This announcement has flow on effects for the PNG LNG expansion, and paves the way for the development of a third train to supply from the PNG LNG fields, in addition to a new P?nyang field.

For professionals in Papua New Guinea and in the oil and gas sector, this announcement is huge.

At the peak of construction, it’s estimated that the PNG LNG project employed over 21,000 people at one time.
Imagine the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby filled to the brim (if you’re not from PNG ? click through for a reference point). Then imagine another 6,000+ people standing outside ? that’s how many people we?re talking about.

Papua LNG is expected to be of similar scale, so hiring activity is likely to cascade across sectors as support services (think facilities, site and camp operation, logistics and aviation, tax and accounting advice, tourism and hospitality.. you name it).

The Peopleconnexion PNG team are excited for what the future of this project holds and are proud to support recruitment, contractor, payroll and training services across Papua New Guinea ahead of this project.

If you are looking to fill a role in oil and gas or find your next role in the sector, please head to www.peopleconnexion.com/png

Peopleconnexion PNG: Your future is our business.