Pressure rises in PNG gas standoff

The P'nyang gas agreement is becoming a test case for the Marape government’s promise to stand up to resource extraction firms

Papua New Guinea (PNG) failed again in mid-January to agree fiscal terms with ExxonMobil for the development of its onshore P'nyang gas field, raising the stakes for all parties involved in a wider project to double gas exports. The failure of the state team negotiating in Singapore piles political pressure on the PNG government; Prime Minister James Marape rose to power last May on the back of pledges to reap more revenue from international resources firms and lift the vast South Pacific archipelago out of poverty. It also increases the financial strain on private stakeholders. The P'nyang gas agreement needs to be sealed before a complex pre-Feed process can start for a larger associated l