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Gold/Mining/Energy : Lundin Oil (LOILY, LOILB Sweden) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tomas who wrote (1508)	3/4/2000 8:25:00 AM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2742

Exxon discussing Papua New Guinea gas pipeline supplies BRISBANE, March 3 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM - news) and a group of smaller oil companies are in final discussions on feeding natural gas to a proposed pipeline crossing the width of the Coral Sea to link Papua New Guinea and Australia, Oil Search Ltd (Australia:OSH.AX - news) said on Friday. Exxon, Santos Ltd (Australia:STO.AX - news) and Oil Search are close to concluding month-long discussions over commercial arrangements involved in feeding gas from the largely undeveloped Hides field in the remote Southern Highlands to a planned 2,655-km (1,650-mile) pipeline. Chevron Services Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVH - news), has already secured about six trillion cubic feet of gas from the neighbouring Kutubu field for the US$3.5 billion pipeline project. Additional gas from Hides has been deemed crucial by Chevron in order to guarantee a long-term supply of gas. ``There have been a range of discussions with Santos and Exxon about unitising gas reserves for the last month and they are under review at senior management level,' Oil Search's managing director, Peter Botten told Reuters. ``We expect some feedback from senior management in the next week or two.' Botten said a forum in Port Moresby next week between senior ministers from Papua New Guinea and Australia was aimed at addressing further issues before the pipeline could proceed. ``There is no doubt that there is a very high priority from both governments for the pipeline. There is also a feeling that progress has to be made and it has been a little slow until now,' he said. The bi-nation forum will include Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer and Defence Minister John Moore and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta. The pipeline would generate up to 14.5 percent of the poverty-stricken nation's GDP and create thousands of jobs, according to Papua New Guinea's government. Both sides also plan to discuss law and order concerns and issues relating to World Bank loans to Papua New Guinea. biz.yahoo.com