Speaking about making the transition from construction to production at the Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference in Sydney on Monday, Graham said that continued success depends on the strong relationship the company has with the Papua New Guinean government and traditional landowners.

"Without the support of these stakeholders, what we have achieved would not have been possible", he said

"Industry, government and community came together on the PNG LNG Project in a way that does not appear to have happened before in Papua New Guinea, at least not in recent times.

"The importance of this project for the economic future of the nation was clearly broadly recognised.

"The physical challenges of the project were so immense that it simply would have been impossible to deliver without a rock solid working partnership between our organisation, our co-venture partners, and the Papua New Guinean government."

Graham described the move from construction to production as a ‘journey' that would continue many more years into the future and recognised that Papua New Guinea was globally competitive despite local challenges.

"It is important to recognise that PNG is a high cost, high risk, and technically challenging environment", he said.

"The incentives for exploration and development must continue to recognise this fact to ensure that Papua New Guinea remains globally competitive.

"As we continue to explore for new opportunities in Papua New Guinea, we can build upon our lessons learned during the development of the PNG LNG project - and I can assure you we learned a lot.

"We found out very quickly that Papua New Guinea wouldn't simply adapt to the way that ExxonMobil does business - we had to adapt some of our proven processes and develop plans to fit the local context and challenges; having said that, we always remained true to our core values and beliefs.

"It took a team of dedicated people to work through the complexities, and we were not afraid to be flexible if there was a demonstrated need to do so.

Graham also said that long term security of the project depended on being a "good neighbour" and maintaining transparency in their decisions.

"Long-term security of the project depends on our relationship with the traditional owners of the land on which we operate and with the government of PNG", he said.

"To this end we understand the importance of transparent dealings and will continue to support government efforts to ensure that clan vetting is completed in a timely manner, and that PNG's application for membership of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is successful.

"For our part, we will continue to work to be seen as a good neighbour in the communities in which we operate."