Total has revised its stake in the output of a key gas project off the Papua New Guinea coast after agreeing a $500million-plus deal.
The French oil giant will take over a 40.1% interest in the field after revising their original agreement with licence holder InterOil.
InterOil, which holds the licence for the permit, had originally opened talks with Total last year to bring them into the project, which could contain up to 5.3trillion cubic feet of gas – almost double the entire UK gas demands for a year.
The deal will see Total paying $401million for the initial deal, with further payments of more than $130million depending on investment decisions and production. Yet more payments would be due once production targets are hit.
The revised deal comes just days after PNG firm Oil Search took a 22.8% interest in the field after the £544million takeover of Pac.
Elk-Antelope is set to be the biggest gas project on Papua New Guinea, after record output test levels last year.
“Elk-Antelope is a significant project in Total’s global portfolio and our presence in Papua New Guinea provides an ideal opportunity to grow our business in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Total exploration vice president Jean-Marie Guillermou.
“We have a strong relationship with our joint venturers, strong support from the Papua New Guinea Government, and we now look forward to leading the development of the LNG project.”
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