Papua LNG FID set for late 2025: Australia’s Santos

A final investment decision (FID) on the 5.6mn t/yr Papua LNG project in Papua New Guinea is likely to be taken in late 2025, Australian independent Santos' chief executive Kevin Gallagher told an investor call marking the firm's half-year results to 30 June.

The joint-venture partners are working to reset the initial engineering phase of the project, Gallagher said, with design optimisations under way to reduce capital expenditure on Papua LNG.

Santos' "best estimate" is that the project partners would reach an FID towards the end of 2025, Gallagher said. The preferred development concept continues to include processing up to 2mn t/yr of Papua LNG's raw gas through the 6.9mn t/yr ExxonMobil-operated PNG LNG plant.

The $10bn project to build Papua New Guinea's second LNG export terminal was initially expected to reach an FID by early 2024 ahead of first production in early 2028, but this was postponed in April by the need for more commercially viable engineering, procurement and construction contracts, operator TotalEnergies said.

TotalEnergies holds a 37.55pc stake in Papua LNG, with ExxonMobil controlling 37.04pc, Santos 22.83pc and Japanese upstream company JX Nippon 2.58pc.

By Tom Major