As plans for additional liquefaction capacity in Papua New Guinea (PNG) move forward, officials from Oil Search and InterOil headed for an LNG conference in Beijing last week to tout the ability of PNG, Asia-Pacific's newest LNG producer, to supply China (WGI Oct. 1'14). With 86 years' experience in the country, PNG-incorporated Oil Search is a 29% partner in the Exxon Mobil-led PNG LNG, which bucked the industry trend with its timely launch last year. Along with InterOil, a PNG-focused independent chaired by former BG boss Chris Finlayson, it is now planning a second liquefaction plant, to be operated by French Total. PNG LNG has already contracted 2 million tons per year of output to China's state-run Sinopec. Further marketing efforts, chiefly targeting top-tier buyers in China and elsewhere — rather than a slew of smaller Chinese importers — will be led by the bigger partners, but both Oil Search and InterOil have been buoyed by PNG's emergence as a credible supplier on Northeast Asia's doorstep.
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