Exxon and partners strike in PNG

Papua New Guinea

PORT MORESBY, December 29, 2016 – Oil Search and ExxonMobil late on Wednesday announced an onshore natural gas discovery in Papua New Guinea’s North Highland area.

Made on petroleum prospecting licence 402, ExxonMobil said the find was made “in the same high-quality sandstone reservoirs as the Hides field,” the cornerstone of the partners’ PNG LNG project.

The Muruk-1 exploration well that made the discovery was spudded in early November and drilled to a total depth of 3,130 metres. Work is underway to determine the volumes of natural gas discovered, with estimates as high as 56.6 bcm (2 tcf).

ExxonMobil has a 42.5% Shareholding in the 510-square-kilometre permit, with operator Oil Search holding 37.5%. Australian independent Santos’ farm-in, pending regulatory approval, will see it land a 20% stake.