PNG LNG hit by cost blowout

摘要

Damon Evans, SINGAPORE: ExxonMobil's Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (PNG LNG) export project has been hit by a $3.3 billion cost blowout, with the project's price tag rising to $19 billion, nearly 30% more than the company's initial estimate in 2009. But a capacity expansion means that it remains one of the most cost effective LNG projects in the region. The US supermajor and its Australian partners, Santos and Oil Search, said that the total cost of the project is now expected to rise from $15.7 billion to $19 billion. The announcement comes about a year after ExxonMobil raised its cost estimate for the project to $15.7 billion from the original budget of $15 billion.