“Our original timetable was too aggressive and we are now targeting the second half of 2006,” Oil Search PNG development manager Richard Robinson told the annual South-East Asia Australia Offshore Conference (SEAAOC) in Darwin yesterday.
However, Oil Search still expected the pipeline would deliver first gas to Townsville in late 2009, according to Robinson. Although the project is operated by ExxonMobil, Oil Search has been a major driver in the development.
One factor holding up project sanction may be the delay in getting Santos to commit to the pipeline.
PNG Deputy Prime Minister and Petroleum Minister Sir Moi Avei told the conference that talks with Santos on rejoining the project were progressing well and the PNG Government had demonstrated to Santos and the wider business community that it was committed to making the pipeline development work.
Avei said the PNG Government had made a major concession in agreeing not to build a $US600 million ($A814.8 million) liquefied petroleum gas plant linked to the PNG-Australia gas pipeline project.
“Because of a certain customer, we have made concessions to allow limited wet gas to be piped to Australia,” he said.
While he did not name the company, analysts have said that one of the major obstacles to getting Santos to rejoin the project has been whether the company could buy wet gas for its gas processing plant in Moomba, South Australia.
