Photo credit: Santos
Santos is in a strong position with the announcement of the next tranche of backfill gas to maintain PNG LNG production and the final investment decision on the Angore Development project.
According to Brett Darley, Santos President Upstream Oil and Gas, who spoke at the recent Australia PNG Business Forum in Brisbane, the first gas from Angore is expected in 2024, and Santos' share of capital expenditure would be around US$135 million (K475.3m).
On the tail of a worldwide epidemic, he added, these drilling efforts will be a huge boost for the sector and economy, as Santos looks to expand its resource portfolio.
“In addition to progress being made on the Angore Development project, we have seen strong performance from the Agogo and Moran fields.
“A coiled tubing campaign commenced in the fourth quarter of last year in those fields, which will deliver incremental production in 2022,” he said.
“Papua LNG, a project that has the potential to be nation shaping for decades to come, continues to progress technical and commercial, regulatory, social, and environmental activities.
“These pre-FEED activities remain on track in support of a FEED-entry decision that is targeted to be made by the end of this year.”
Mr. Darley stated that, given the present supply shortage in the global LNG market, initiatives like Papua LNG are becoming increasingly important for global energy security and affordability.
“We are continuing to work hard with our joint venture partners to progress this project which will create local jobs in Papua New Guinea, drive economic development, and create revenues for the government.
“The other growth project that we are working hard on is P’nyang, with the P’nyang Gas Agreement being successfully executed between the PRL3 joint venture partners and the PNG government earlier this year,” he said.
“We are working hard on the integration of the Oil Search business, on delivering on our commitments, and on ensuring the growth project and opportunities that are so important to PNG to continue on schedule and on budget.”
Reference: Post-Courier (1 June 2022). “Angore Development A Plus For PNG, Says Santos Boss”.
