The more than $10-billion PNG LNG Project is expected to have a dramatic influence on the economy of Papua New Guinea (PNG) by essentially doubling the island country's gross domestic product. Project co-venturers ExxonMobil, Oil Search, Santos, Nippon Oil, AGL, and MRDC plan to commercialize petroleum resources in the country's Hides, Angore, and Juha fields as well as the associated gas resources in the operating oil fields of Kutubu, Agogo, Gobe, and Moran in PNG's Southern Highlands and Western provinces.

After undergoing conditioning at a Hides plant, the gas will be shipped via pipeline to an LNG terminal northwest of Port Moresby on the Gulf of Papua coast. The gas will be liquefied at the terminal, and the approximately 6.3 million tonnes per annum of LNG will be loaded onto tankers and shipped to the Asian market. ExxonMobil will be the marketing representative on behalf of the joint venture.

The project began the front-end engineering design (FEED) phase in May 2008. Five months later, Japan-based Chiyoda Corp. in announced that it had won an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the LNG plant and associated facilities.According to the company, the scope of the EPC competition includes facilities for inlet processing, treating, liquefaction, storage, and loading of 6.3 million t/a of LNG.

In June 2009, KBR announced that its Eos Joint Venture with WorleyParsons has won a project services contract from the ExxonMobil subsidiary Esso Highlands Ltd. Under the agreement, Eos will provide engineering, training, in-country support serices, and integrated project team services for construction and project management. Eos will maintain its engagement in the upstream component of the proposed PNG LNG development following the completion of Eos' current FEED services contract.

PNG LNG is expected to support more than 7,500 construction jobs and 850 jobs during production. The project is expected to begin an approximately 30-year production phase during the 2013-2014 time frame.