Papua New Guinea's national oil company Petromin signed a development agreement to check the prospects of developing offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) production, a Norwegian contractor said on Wednesday.
Petromin entered into the deal with Norway's Hoegh LNG and South Korean DSME E&R, a subsidiary of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering to investigate the prospects for an offshore LNG production vessel.
The vessel would be a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) ship with the added capability of freezing natural gas pumped out from under the seabed to liquid form, so that it can be taken away by special LNG tankers.
"We have commenced an economic and technical feasibility study in order to provide a competitive option to any gas owners in the Gulf of Papua," Hoegh LNG said in a statement.
It said the technology, which according to the statement is ready for immediate implementation, minimised the need for investments in onshore facilities and infrastructure.
If the project goes ahead, the vessel could be operational in mid to late 2014, Hoegh LNG said. It would be capable of producing up to 3 million tonnes of LNG annually.
"This is a big project coming out of investments we have made together with Daewoo over the last two years," Geirmund Aasboe, Hoegh's vice president, told Reuters. "We are now looking at other specific projects to implement the technology."
Petromin entered into the deal with Norway's Hoegh LNG and South Korean DSME E&R, a subsidiary of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering to investigate the prospects for an offshore LNG production vessel.
The vessel would be a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) ship with the added capability of freezing natural gas pumped out from under the seabed to liquid form, so that it can be taken away by special LNG tankers.
"We have commenced an economic and technical feasibility study in order to provide a competitive option to any gas owners in the Gulf of Papua," Hoegh LNG said in a statement.
It said the technology, which according to the statement is ready for immediate implementation, minimised the need for investments in onshore facilities and infrastructure.
If the project goes ahead, the vessel could be operational in mid to late 2014, Hoegh LNG said. It would be capable of producing up to 3 million tonnes of LNG annually.
"This is a big project coming out of investments we have made together with Daewoo over the last two years," Geirmund Aasboe, Hoegh's vice president, told Reuters. "We are now looking at other specific projects to implement the technology."