PNG gas likely for East Asian markets

PAPUA new guinea could export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to East Asian markets, Minerals and Energy Minister Patterson lowa said.

He said the government was looking at the possibility of a gas gathering line which could take gas from a series of fields in the Highlands and Gulf prov inces to processing facilities on the Gulf of Papua coast.

It could follow parts of the route to be taken by the Kutubu oil export pipeline from the Southern Highlands to an offshore marine terminal in the Gulf of Papua. “More excitingly, it may be possible to convert the Kutubu crude oil pipeline to gas service after depletion of the Kutubu oil fields should there be no further oil discoveries warranting its continued use for oil,” lowa said in a statement.

“A throughput of the order of 300 million cubic feet of gas per day might be possible under such a scheme supporting the export of two million tonnes of LNG per year.” lowa said the recent surge in exploration indicated possible gas re serves of 17 trillion cubic feet.

PNG’s biggest known gas field is the

Hides structure in the Southern High lands, estimated to contain up to 2.9 trillion cubic feet of gas and 77 million barrels of condensate. Four gas fields have been discovered by drilling this year: P’nyang, Elevala and Tarim in the Western Province and Angore in the Southern Highlands, adding five trillion cubic feet to possible reserves.

Offshore, the Pandora Reef complex in the Gulf of Papua may contain up to 4.9 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, lowa said. Hides, 95 per cent owned by operator BP and five per cent by Oil Search, is expected to have its first commercial gas flow by the end of 1991 after constructiion of a gas processing plant and associated facilities at an estimated cost of more than K2O million.

However Hides’ only commitment so far is to supply a gas-driven power station to provide electricity for the second and more energy-intensive stage of the giant Porgera gold mine. The power station will take only a small portion of Hides reserves: 69 billion cubic feet over a

19-year period.

lowa said PNG would seek foreign investment to develop the gas reserves,

and to bring in technologies to help the country’s industrialisation and skills de velopment among its people. He said his department would begin a national proven petroleum reserves audit to assess and carefully define PNG’s gas reserves.

“This task will better determine the extent of proven versus possible reserves, providing more confidence to developers and more reliable data for the end-user in the east asian LNGmarkets,” he said. □ Export ban call TRADE and Industry Minister John Giheno wants all log and coffee exports banned in Papua New Guinea, with the government moving quickly to have both commodities processed in the country.

He said he had secured a loan from Germany of more than Kl 2 million (U 5512.73 million) to be channelled through the Central Bank for funding industrial projects. Germany is the

largest single buyer of Papua New

Guinea coffee, and Giheno said the government should buy a 50 per cent interest in a German coffee manufacturer and then get the company to set up a

large processing plant in Papua New

Guinea. □