Australia's Oil Search gas project on track

Australia's third-largest oil and gas producer Oil Search said on Friday that the company's liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is on track to deliver its first LNG sales in 2014. Oil Search said the PNG LNG project would allow the company to quadruple its production base in the first full year of operation. In its 2012 annual report, Oil Search said the project was 75 percent complete at the end of 2012, with many construction milestones achieved during the year. However, the company said the estimated capital costs for the project increased to 19 billion U.S. dollars, a 3.3 billion U.S. dollar rise on the previous estimate. "Pleasingly, the Project remains on schedule, with first deliveries expected to commence in 2014," Oil Search Managing Director Peter Botten said in the report. The company says there will be an increase in project capacity, from 6.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 6.9 MTPA. "While the increase in costs is disappointing and, unfortunately, a feature of the current LNG project construction environment, PNG LNG project economics remain attractive," Oil Search chairman Brian Horwood said in the report.