ExxonMobil said on Tuesday that production at its liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea has not been affected by landowner protests.
The company told Radio New Zealand that production at its $19 billion LNG operation in Papua New Guinea has not been impacted after protesters claimed to have shut part of the project down.
Exxon told the news station that landowners are continuing their peaceful protests and that the company will be able to meet its contractual obligations.
Landowners in the Hela province have been holding protests to pressure the PNG government to pay royalties they claim are owed.
The PNG LNG project’s integrated development that includes gas production and processing facilities are located in Hela.
Government officials visited the region last week but failed to resolve the issue.
The PNG’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy Nixon Duban said during a television interview seen by Radio New Zealand earlier this month that the payments have been delayed so that the government can confirm the identities of landowners.
According to Forbes, the protesters threatened to disrupt production at the LNG project last week if the government failed to pay the royalties within seven days.
ExxonMobil PNG Ltd. is operator of the Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas joint venture that came onstream in 2014.
The PNG LNG project is an integrated development that includes gas production and processing facilities as well as liquefaction and storage facilities with capacity of 6.9 million tons per year.
Other stake holders in the project are Oil Search Ltd., Santos Ltd., National Petroleum Company of PNG, JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration, Mineral Resource Development Co. and Petromin PNG Holdings Ltd.
