Following a personal assurance from Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare that the government will sign off on a gas agreement with the ExxonMobil-led LNG consortium by the end of this month, the announcement on front-end engineering and design is imminent.
With most project planning activity being handled by the highly capable ExxonMobil, Oil Search will focus on raising its US$2.9 billion share of project funding and in providing assistance in terms of landowner and government relations.
In its comprehensive five-year strategy briefing last week, Oil Search managing director Peter Botten made it clear that besides its LNG involvement the company will explore other gas-based opportunities in PNG.
This is natural since 40% of its gas resource has not been committed to LNG, essentially the second phase of PNG's hydrocarbon development following oil era created by Kutubu in 1992.
The coming third phase, post LNG, would involve using the remaining Oil Search resource totalling two trillion cubic feet of gas or 400 million barrels of oil equivalent - somewhat larger than the original oil reserves discovered at Kutubu.
Botten has recognised three PNG gas hubs outside of areas committed to LNG - the Hides, Angore and Juha gas fields and gas at the Kutubu, Moran and Gobe oilfields.
This potential is represented by discoveries in which Oil Search is involved or in partnership with other players.
Particularly where gas cannot be diverted to a new LNG project or LNG expansion other gas-based industries need to be investigated. Currently LNG is the best economic option with world prices at US$11 per thousand BTU or almost three times the domestic gas price in Queensland.
Among these are petrochemicals such as the Mitsubishi Chemical and Itochu synthetic fuels venture, fertiliser production or gas-to-liquids ventures.
Oil Search executive general manager for gas Bob Marcellus outlined the three hubs - Western Foreland, Eastern Foreland and offshore.
The Western Foreland Hub includes the 0.8Tcf Kimu field (60.7% OSH) and gas-condensate discoveries at Douglas and Elevala, with the former possibly targeting pipeline sales to Alcan bauxite-alumina operations in the Northern Territory.
Together with PNG Sustainable Development Program Ltd, Oil Search already has a feasibility study underway for a pipeline to Daru that could tap "cluster developments".
In the Eastern Foreland Hub, established gas could be material for additional LNG capacity or for domestic gas use for gas-based industries or generation of power. Discoveries include Barikewa, which is of similar size to Kimu and 42.6% owned by OSH; as well as InterOil's Elk and Antelope prospects which are already subject of a separate LNG study.
In the Offshore Hub, fields such as Uramu (400 BCF and 49.5% OSH) and Pandora (1Tcf) could tie into the PNG LNG pipeline or "have standalone facilities".
As Marcellus puts it, this means Oil Search must "finalise its investment strategy for the next four years" with an eye to development of multi 'in-country' projects from the LNG infrastructure spine to be created by ExxonMobil.
Early in the presentation Botten noted that in the past five years Oil Search provided the fifth largest total shareholder return on the Australian Stock Exchange with a 58% annual rate compounded.
What can shareholders look forward to in the next five years?
The LNG venture alone is calculated to provide 15% annual growth in total shareholder returns.
Even greater returns are promised from the "latent value in the existing portfolio of assets" while not excluding the promise from yet to be tested prospects in Libya, Tunisia and northern Iraq, where Oil Search is likely to retain some level of involvement.
