A NEW frontier in Papua New Guinea’s petroleum industry is taking shape offshore as the Government and its international partners push ahead with one of the country’s deepest oil and gas exploration projects.
Petroleum Minister Jimmy Maladina and International Trade and Investment Minister Richard Maru yesterday visited the Mailu-1 Deepwater Exploration Well, where drilling is underway about 60 kilometres off the Papua New Guinea mainland in waters reaching depths of 3.6 kilometres.
The ministers, accompanied by senior officials from the National Petroleum Authority and representatives of TotalEnergies and Petronas, toured the Noble Viking, a seventh-generation ultra-deepwater drillship leading the exploration program.
Mr Maladina described the project as a significant milestone for Papua New Guinea’s petroleum sector, saying exploration remains the foundation of future resource development.
He said the Mailu-1 well demonstrates that Papua New Guinea continues to attract confidence from major international investors and has the potential to unlock a new chapter in the country’s offshore petroleum industry.
Trade and Investment Minister Richard Maru said the visit gave Government leaders a firsthand appreciation of the scale of investment and advanced technology required to undertake exploration in such extreme offshore conditions.
He said drilling an exploration well 60 kilometres offshore in water depths of 3.6 kilometres represented a remarkable engineering achievement and commended TotalEnergies and Petronas for their continued confidence in Papua New Guinea.
Mr Maru said the Government remained hopeful the exploration program would lead to another major petroleum discovery capable of delivering long-term economic benefits for the country.
The Government says it remains committed to supporting responsible petroleum exploration while ensuring Papua New Guineans benefit through employment opportunities, greater participation for local businesses, infrastructure development and future resource revenues.
The Mailu-1 exploration program is among the most technically demanding offshore drilling operations undertaken in Papua New Guinea and is expected to provide valuable information on the country’s frontier offshore basins as exploration activities continue.
