Oil Search, ExxonMobil in offshore licence deal in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

PORT MORESBY, September 12, 2016 – Papua New Guinea’s Oil Search and ExxonMobil entered into an agreement to acquire stakes in offshore assets from China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s subsidiary Gini Energy, Oil Search announced in a press release on Monday.

The two companies will each acquire 40% of both PPL 374 and PPL 375 offshore licences in Papua New Guinea, while Gini Energy will retain a 20% stake in each licence. Under the agreement, operatorship will be transferred from Gini to ExxonMobil.

The licences are located about 150 km south of Port Moresby in the Gulf of Papua’s deep waters, at depths ranging from 1,000 m to 2,500 m, over a combined area of 24,900 square kilometres.

Peter Botten, Oil Search’s managing director, indicated that studies undertaken in 2015 and 2016 have identified significant natural gas potential in the area.