French energy giant TotalEnergies said that the Papua LNG joint venture has launched the first phase of front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies for the LNG project’s upstream production facilities.
“In parallel, studies for the downstream liquefaction facilities are progressing in line with the overall project schedule, and the objective is to launch the integrated FEED in the fourth quarter of 2022,” TotalEnergies said on Wednesday.
TotalEnergies said that the project is targeting a final investment decision (FID) around the end of 2023, and a start-up at the end of 2027.
“The commencement of upstream FEED studies is another significant step towards developing the Papua LNG project, which will increase Papua New Guinea’s LNG export capacity and thus contribute to its further development,” Julien Pouget, senior VP Asia Pacific for exploration and production and renewables at TotalEnergies, said.
“The Papua LNG project is well positioned to contribute to growth in LNG supply worldwide, especially for customers in Asia seeking to decarbonize from coal to gas, in line with our strategy to lower global greenhouse gas emissions,” Pouget said.
Two LNG trains
TotalEnergies is developing the proposed 5.6 million tons per annum project with partners ExxonMobil and Oil Search, now part of Santos.
Previously, the partners planned to develop Papua LNG with an expansion of ExxonMobil’s PNG LNG adding three new production trains at the existing Caution Bay plant.
They now plan to build two new production units at the PNG LNG site.
Papua LNG project will target the production of the two main discoveries of Block PRL-15, Elk and Antelope.
Furthermore, the partners will transport the gas produced by these fields via a 320 km onshore/offshore pipeline to the plant site.
The project will also incorporate a carbon capture and storage scheme for the fields’ native CO2, which the JV plans to reinject into the reservoirs.
Total operates the Elk and Antelope onshore fields and is the largest shareholder of the PRL-15 permit with a 31.1 percent interest, alongside partners ExxonMobil and Santos.