Photo credit: Oil Search
According to Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua, the production of liquefied natural gas from the Juha petroleum development licence nine (PDL 9) region in Western has yet to begin.
Kua stated this in response to Western Governor Toboi Awi Yoto's inquiries concerning the PNG LNG project's integration with other PDL regions and the pipeline's construction into Juha.
Yoto also inquired as to why Juha landowners have not received any royalty payments since the project began.
In response, Kua stated that he was unsure of the cause for the non-payment of royalties, but pledged to investigate and respond to Yoto.
“Juha is part of the integrated PNG LNG project,” Kua said.
“There are several areas which have been combined and integrated under the development of the PNG LNG project and Juha is one of them.
“But when it comes to the development (such as royalty payments) of the various PDLs, they stagger it and are doing it one at a time.
“Up until recently, they didn’t complete Angore and Juha for various reasons including court proceedings and injunctions but finally for Angore, we have resolved the issues and now the developer (ExxonMobil Ltd) has started work to build a pipeline to bring it into production.
“For Juha, this has not happened yet.
“There is no pipeline into the PDL 9, Juha area. And no production has taken place out of that licensed area.
“However all the royalty entitlements for the pipeline routes have been up to date, only a few PDL areas are still outstanding.
“Whether Juha is outstanding or whether production has not started or if landowner identification process has not been completed, I’m am not sure.”
Yoto also encouraged Kua and his department to tackle the Juha matter apart from other LNG-related issues in PNG, such as those in the Highlands.
Reference: The National (20 January 2022). “Kua: Juha gas field yet to start production”.
