PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Exxon Mobil said its $17 billion liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea is more than 90 percent finished.
Exxon's PNG LNG project is expected to start delivering liquefied natural gas from a plant near Port Moseby during the second half of next year. The project is nearly 90 percent complete.
The project will be able to churn out as much as 6.9 million tons of LNG at peak capacity. Exxon holds a 33 percent stake in a project that counts Australian and Japanese companies as partners.
"With more than 19,000 people currently working across the project, including more than 7,500 Papua New Guineans, we are making significant progress," Decie Autin, PNG LNG project executive, said in a statement Monday.
Papua New Guinea has rich deposits of oil and natural gas, with mineral and oil exports accounting for the bulk of the country's gross domestic product. Exxon's partner, Oil Search Ltd., announced last week it discovered natural gas while drilling in shallow waters off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
