China’s FLNG builder Wison New Energies, announced on Friday it had secured a pre-FEED contract from Kumul for the FLNG with an expected capacity of 1.5 mtpa.
Wison said pre-FEED will be completed by June 2025, but the company did not provide further information regarding the deal.
According to a statement by Kumul, Sonk revealed more information about the project during the contract signing ceremony on Friday.
He said Kumul had for some time been investigating how to commercialize stranded gas resources, particularly those in its Petroleum Retention Licenses (PRLs 47 &50) over the Pandora and Uramu gas fields, offshore of Gulf Province.
Kumul had evaluated these gas discoveries and completed reserve certification, which had “given us confidence to move to this stage of the commercialization plan,” Sonk said
According to Sonk, the company is 100 percent license holder of the two PRL offshore licenses at the moment and intends to farm down post this study to interested partners who see value in the 1.5 mtpa FLNG project in PNG.
“This pre-FEED study is a necessary step to ensure that we understand the full scope, cost, schedule, risk and the full economic value before making a decision on moving to FEED and final investment decision,” he said.
“The pre-FEED study is expected to take 8-12 months, leading to entry of FEED thereafter, and FID sometime in 2026 or 2027,” Sonk said.
PNG LNG
Kumul is the third largest shareholder in the ExxonMobil-led PNG LNG project with a 16.8 percent stake.
ExxonMobil holds a 33.2 percent operating interest in PNG LNG which is able to produce more than 8.3 million tonnes of LNG annually, an increase of 20 percent from the original design specification of 6.9 mtpa.
Australia’s Santos currently has a 42.5 percent stake in the LNG export plant in Caution Bay following the Oil Search merger, and it agreed earlier this year to amend the terms of sale of its 2.6 percent stake in the LNG project to Kumul.
Besides PNG LNG, France’s TotalEnergies and its partners are working to make a final investment decision on the Papua LNG export project.
The project calls for the design of about 4 mtpa of liquefaction capacity adjacent to the existing PNG LNG processing facilities.
