Oil Search: Elk-Antelope gas certification starts

Oil Search said the certification of the Elk-Antelope fields in PRL 15 in which the company holds a 22.8 percent, began on March 13.

The company informed in a statement that the gas certification is being carried out by Netherland Sewell and Associates and Gaffney Cline and Associates. It is expected that the certification will last for 120 days.

Peter Botten, Oil Search’s Managing Director, said, “A key priority for the Papua LNG project co-venturers and the PNG government is to confirm the size of the resource and move into the development phase, as soon as possible.”

Botten added that the certification will provide the first independent assessment of the resource size following the recent appraisal activity.

The certification will play a big role in the selection of the final development concept for the Total-operated Papua LNG project.

The project will become Papua New Guinea’s second, after ExxonMobil in May of 2014 started exporting chilled gas from its $19 billion PNG LNG project.