TotalEnergies' complex Papua LNG project eyeing FID in early 2026
Project partner Santos says confidence in PNG LNG project is increasing
The final investment decision for TotalEnergies' complex LNG project in Papua New Guinea is planned for the first quarter of 2026, with project partner Santos confirming that several other new gas developments are set to follow.
Papua LNG is French energy giant TotalEnergies' first project in PNG, which is renowned for its unforgiving terrain but also its challenging regulatory requirements, provincial government and landowner demands.
The project was suspended more than a year ago after quotes received for engineering, procurement and construction contracts were far too high.
Kevin Gallagher, chief executive of project co-owner Santos, said in the company's half-year results that “Papua LNG is making good progress towards an expected FID early in the new year”.
“Our confidence in the Papua project is increasing, and we're looking forward to getting that FID ready around the end of this year and then taking FID, hopefully, early in the new year,” added Gallagher.
On the subject of capital costs, Gallagher said the project operator has “done a good job of taking considerable cost out. We're confident that the project is heading in the right direction and that we should be in a position at least to be FID ready around the end of this year”.
Four new electric LNG trains will be built at the PNG LNG location under a separate EPC contract to be awarded by ExxonMobil.
Papua LNG is based on reserves of about 6.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and 57 million barrels of condensate on a gross best estimate contingent basis, and will have planned production capacity of 5.6 million tonnes per annum of LNG.
TotalEnergies holds a 37.55% operated interest in Papua LNG, with ExxonMobil on 37.04%, Santos on 22.83% and JX Nippon on 2.58%. The PNG state through Kumul Petroleum has a back-in right to a 22.5% interest.
The next slate of projects
Santos' chief executive also confirmed the next slate of upstream developments that will provide feed gas into the PNG LNG facility for the long term will include P'nyang, Muruk and Juha.
He would not comment on timelines, but said P’nyang would follow on from Papua LNG.
Santos' focus was to continue to provide PNG LNG with feedstock gas from the fields that Santos operates, Gallagher said.
The P'nyang field is a large gas discovery in the Western Highlands with best estimate contingent resources of 4.5 Tcf of gas, according to PNG domestic oil and gas company Oil Search, which was acquired by Santos in 2021.
The nearby Muruk discovery contains best estimate contingent resources of 843 billion cubic feet of gas, and Juha has the potential to produce gas at a rate of 200 million cubic feet per day, according to Oil Search.
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