14 Nov 2013

Interoil nears completion of deal to develop PNG gas fields

11:39 am on 14 November 2013

Three years after it was awarded a licence to develop the Elk and Antelope fields in Papua New Guinea's Gulf Province, InterOil says a deal with a major partner to develop these resources is imminent.

InterOil's head says it expects to announce a major transformational deal by the end of 2013 to develop PNG's second LNG Gas project.

Business Advantage PNG reports that Interoil's CEO, Michael Hession, has announced he has secured a 250 million US dollar loan facility from a consortium of banks led by Credit Suisse, including ANZ, Bank South Pacific and Westpac.

He also says Interoil is considering offers from six or seven mega majors to develop the fields, adding that talks underway in Singapore are very close to being finalised

Dr Hession describes the project as the biggest gas field in the Southeast Asia for 20 years.