Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Natural Gas Country Notes

The Hides gas field was discovered in 1987 and brought into production in December 1991. Other resources of non-associated gas have been located in PNG, both on land and offshore. Published assessments of proved reserves range between Oil & Gas Journal's 345 bcm and the 430 quoted by BP, with World Oil positioned midway at 388 bcm. For the present Survey, the (unchanged) level of 428 bcm given by Cedigaz and OPEC has been retained.

Up to the present, the only marketing outlet for Hides gas has been a 42 MW gas-turbine power plant serving the Porgera gold mine; offtake averages 14-15 million cubic feet/day. Associated gas produced in the Kutubu area is mostly re-injected into the formation.

The PNG Gas Project for a gas export pipeline to Australia is progressing slowly. The proposed pipeline includes a 500 km undersea section across the Torres Strait and 2 100 km of line following a route southwards close to the coastline of Queensland. ExxonMobil, which has a 26% working interest, reported in its 2006 Financial and Operating Review that it was advancing the project. The Australian pipeline consortium had withdrawn from the scheme following the completion of front-end engineering and design. ExxonMobil also reported that 'multiple development options', including an LNG project, were being explored.