Santos today announced the first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the $US19 billion PNG LNG project has left Papua New Guinea carrying a cargo bound for Japan.

Production from the first LNG train started in April, and production from the second train has also started.

Santos Managing Director David Knox said the successful completion and first cargo from PNG LNG marked the beginning of Santos’ transformational growth.

“A key part of Santos’ growth strategy is the successful delivery of our transformational LNG portfolio. Santos is well and truly a key player in the LNG market and today’s announcement only strengthens our position as a major and competitive LNG supplier to Asia.”

“This is an important step for Santos and we look forward to the continued ramp up of LNG production. PNG LNG will quadruple Santos’ LNG production once the project reaches full output.”

“First cargo from PNG LNG is not only a significant milestone for Santos, but also for the operator ExxonMobil and Papua New Guinea. This is PNG’s largest resource project to date and has taken over 191 million work hours to complete – an incredible effort by all,” Mr Knox said.

Santos has a 13.5% interest in the PNG LNG project. Other co-venturers include affiliates of ExxonMobil (operator), Oil Search, National Petroleum Company of PNG, JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration, Mineral Resources Development Company and Petromin PNG Holdings Limited.

About The PNG LNG project

The PNG LNG Project is an integrated development that includes gas production and processing facilities in the Southern Highlands, Hela, Western, Gulf and Central provinces of Papua New Guinea. More than 700 kilometres of pipeline connect the facilities, which include a gas conditioning plant in Hides, and liquefaction and storage facilities near Port Moresby with project capacity of 6.9 million tonnes of LNG per year.

The Project is expected to produce more than 9 trillion cubic feet of gas over the estimated 30 years of operations.

The PNG LNG Project will provide a long-term supply of LNG to four major customers in the Asia region including China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. (TEPCO), Osaka Gas Co. Ltd., and CPC Corp. Taiwan.

The PNG LNG Project is operated by ExxonMobil PNG Limited in co-venture with Oil Search Limited, National Petroleum Company of PNG, Santos Limited, JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation, Mineral Resources Development Company (representing landowners) and Petromin PNG Holdings Limited.

About Santos

An Australian energy pioneer since 1954, Santos is a leading oil and gas producer,supplying Australian and Asian customers.
With over 3,000 employees across Australia and Asia, Santos’ foundations are based on safe, sustainable operations and working in partnership with host communities, governments, business partners and shareholders.

See the site of PNG LNG terminal