Australian Horizon Oil Expands PNG Gas Acreage

Australian Horizon Oil has increased its interest to about 28% in the total certified 2.0–2.5 trillion ft³ of gas and 60–70mn barrels of condensate resources contained in Papua New Guinea’s Western Foreland fields, it said July 18.

It did not provide details of the costs involved.

Horizon and partner Repsol now operate all the licences and hold 70% of the total gas resource to be aggregated to underpin the proposed 1.5mn metric tons/yr Western LNG project.

In January 2017, Horizon acquired a 50% interest in, and operatorship of, PRL 28 (Ubuntu field) adjacent to PRL 21. Further to that transaction, the company has acquired an additional 3.15% interest in PRL 21 (Elevala/Tingu and Ketu fields) as a result of Mitsubishi Corporation divesting its upstream assets in PNG. It has also exchanged a 20% interest in PRL 28 for a 20% interest in PRL 40 (Puk Puk and Douglas fields) in a trade with Kumul Petroleum Holdings, PNG’s national oil company. Completion of this transaction is conditional only on customary PNG government approvals, Horizon said.

Horizon’s interest in the Ubuntu field has been reduced to 30% to provide portfolio balance, it said.

Horizon Oil’s upstream acreage and resource position for the Western LNG project is now complete, which, it says, will enhance its capacity to advance the project.

Shardul Sharma