Kutuba oil project set to start
p. 35 · Read in the full issue
CONSTRUCTION of the Kutubu oil project in Papua New Guinea is expected to start early in 1991, following the granting of a development licence by the government in Port Moresby.
Three oil Fields lagifu, Hedinia and Agogo will be developed in Papua New Guinea’s southern highlands, about 550 km north-west of the capital. The development will also involve construetion of a 170 km pipeline through rugged terrain to the coast, and a further 90 km of subsea pipeline to a marine loading terminal in the gulf of Papua.
Partners in the venture are the Papua New Guinea Government (22.5 per cent), Ampol Exploration Ltd (16.4 per cent), BP petroleum (9.7 per cent), BP and Chevron (19.4 per cent each), Japan Papua New Guinea Exploration Ltd (4.8 per cent) and Oil Search Ltd (7.8 per cent). BP Australia Ltd announced that the joint venture partners in the project have spent about USS2SO million on exploration and appraisal activity and expect to spend a further USS9OO million on development.
The company’s general manager for exploration and production, Jay Smith, said during the peak output period the
Kutubu project was expected to produce
more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day.
“Kutubu is a major milestone in the development of Papua New Guinea as it will provide an important export oppor tunity for the country,” he said, noting that the approval comes close on the heels of another government all-clear Papua New Guinea’s first petroleum development licence for the Hides gas project, where BP has a 95 per cent stake.
Smith said that “Papua New Guinea has an exciting oil and gas development potential, but this will only be realised if the government and the community recognise the risks undertaken by com panies such as BP, Chevron and the joint
venture partners in bringing large proj
ects like these to fruition.”
In a separate statement, the general manager of Ampol Exploration, Peter Power, said the company’s output would double to about 40,000 barrels a day when the oil field comes onstream in late 1992. □