The government has gone ahead to sign the agreement to lay the foundation for the development of the P’nyang Gas project in the Western Province with developer ExxonMobil, despite a restraining order taken out by the Member for North Fly James Donald, to stop the signing.
Prime Minister (PM) James Marape said he and his team are not aware of a restraining order as there was none served to him or the team to stop the signing of the project agreement.
“The process was set, everybody knew we’re signing it this Tuesday, so they had every moment up till this Tuesday to serve us any court orders. No one has served us any court orders, so we moved ahead with the signing,” said the Prime Minister.
“Everyone’s got their right to go to court, so if they went to court then we respect that process and we will go to court to defend what we’ve done, if there is a case,” added Marape.
Nevertheless, the signing of the agreement went ahead after two years and four months of negotiations between teams from the developer of the proposed P’nyang gas project and the government team.
The signing on Tuesday 22nd February at the Government House in Port Moresby between the state and ExxonMobil, would enable the proposed P’nyang Project to deliver Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) by constructing new upstream facilities in Western Province linked to existing infrastructure.
The PM said the construction phase should generate a lot in revenue for the country because this agreement is being sequenced in consistent with Papua LNG construction phase.
“If Papua LNG construction starts in 2024 then it ends around 2028, the agreement is constructed in a way where after the construction of Papua LNG, P’nyang LNG construction will carryon from there. So, the country will benefit from eight years of consistent construction economy.”
“The P’nyang Project Gas Agreement supports the government’s vision to promote long term development in the country and for our people.”
“On behalf of the country and our people, I am both pleased and proud to mark this milestone. ExxonMobil has demonstrated its continued commitment to PNG through the outstanding operatorship of the PNG LNG project, and we look forward to continuing our partnership well into the future with the P’nyang Project,” said Marape.
The PM later thanked the State Negotiating Team (SNT) for their effort in securing the agreement leading to the signing of the project agreement and thanked the developer and its joint venture partners for agreeing with the various terms and condition put forth by the state for the interest of PNG.
