Govt to sign deal on secound LNG project

THE National Government is set to sign the gas agreement for the second liquefied natural gas (LNG) project being developed by InterOil Corp.Acting Governor-General Dr Allan Marat will sign the deal tomorrow at 2pm at the Government House.Then at 3pm, InterOil and the State will sign at Parliament, and at 4pm the documents will be registered with Department of Petroleum and Energy (DPE).The agreement will pave the way for further development of the project.The National Executive Council (NEC) approved the project agreement in principle last Dec 10, just two days after project developers for the PNG LNG project led by ExxonMobil Corp gave the nod for the project to proceed starting with the construction phase next year.Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare had announced the NEC decision.InterOil has already applied for petroleum retention licence (PRL), a first step to getting the petroleum development licence (PDL) for the Elk/Antelope fields in Wabo, Gulf province.The InterOil project targets a US$6 billion (K17 billion) two-train LNG facility, with each train capable of producing about four million tonnes of LNG per year.Petromin PNG Holdings Ltd is the State’s nominee to participate in the project for State’s 22.5% (2% for landowners) interest.