Papua New Guinea: Drilling to start at gas processing site
The National, March 22
EVEN though Comalco Ltd has continued to cast doubt on the timing and prospects of the PNG to Queensland gas pipeline project, work has continued apace even as the gas consortium tries to firm up gas contracts for the project's eventual go-ahead.
This week drilling of seabed test holes will commence at the proposed gas processing site in the Gulf of Papua.
A specially adapted drilling vessel has left Port Moresby to drill holes of up to 100 metres depth in the seabed in water to the south of the Kikori Delta. This will help establish conditions for the construction of processing and offloading facilities for the PNG Gas Project.
The processing facility will involve a huge concrete gravity structure, the size of a football field, which will be towed into position and then partially submerged, to rest on the sea floor.
There are also plans for construction of a storage structure for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and a mooring point for ships loading the gas for export.
"We need information on the conditions under the floor of the sea in order to design these very big structures, and their anchoring points," said Dr Moseley Moramoro, Chevron Niugini's gas commercialisation director, after he saw the drilling ship, MV Mariner, leave the Port Moresby harbour for the Kikori Delta.
Dr Moramoro said: "While commercial negotiations continue between the joint venturers in the gas project, and the marketing effort in Queensland continues to firm up our customer base, we are proceeding with the technical design work.
"Nothing on this scale has ever been attempted in Papua New Guinea before, and we are seeing all kinds of ships and survey equipment being mobilised into PNG.
"We are also pleased to see that employment and experience is being gained by local crewmen involved in the survey work."
The MV Mariner is a highly specialised vessel which can position itself and anchor with great accuracy to drill holes at precise locations.
Satellite navigation equipment and global position systems give accurate position fixes, and the drilling crew are able to retrieve soil samples from depth, and store them undisturbed for transfer to analytical laboratories onshore.
wr.com.au
_________________________________________________
Comalco to decide on refinery site in 14 days
The National, March 22: wr.com.au |
