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

To: Tomas who wrote (885)	12/17/1998 7:28:00 AM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2742

Australia premier says Papua New Guinea gas hinges on Exxon MELBOURNE, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The A$3.6 billion Papua New Guinea to Australia gas pipeline was hingeing on agreements between Exxon Corp (NYSE:XON - news) and Chevron Asiatic Ltd (NYSE:CHV - news), Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said on Thursday. Beattie told Reuters Comalco Ltd's decision on a alumina refinery site was no longer the major barrier to the project. ''The bottom line is that I understand that they are not the obstacle in the project going ahead any more,'' he said. ''The issue really relates to the supply out of PNG. Exxon's got some deposits, Chevron have got deposits, it's about putting them together to make it work. It is with Exxon.'' Under the pipeline plans, gas supplies from fields in which Chevron has a stake would be supplemented by additional output from the Hides gas field in which Exxon has a major share. Securing major customers has also been a key issue for the gas pipeline's viability, with a proposed Comalco alumina refinery seen as a linchpin for the project. Comalco Ltd is expected to announce by early next year if it will locate the refinery in Gladestone, Queensland, or at Bintulu in Sarawak, Malaysia. But Beattie said incentive packages had been put together by both the Queensland and Commonwealth Government to ensure the project was located in Gladstone. He earlier told the Committee for Economic Development of Australia that the pipeline was vital for providing clean energy that would generate economic development in Queensland. Beattie said the state faced greenhouse gas emission problems that would be worsened by the previous government's decisions to build the Callide C power plant. ''It is another coal-fired power station which will take us through the roof when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions,'' he said. ''One of the reasons we are so committed to this (PNG pipeline) project, is that it is natural gas, it is clean.'' The 2,400 kilometre gas gas pipeline would extend from the Papua New Guinea pipelines to Gladestone on the central Queensland coast, with the potential to link to other major centres in Queensland. Beattie said that provided talks between Exxon and Chevron were finalised soon, the project would remain on track for 2001 completion. ''If they are done in the next couple of months. It is on target,'' he said. biz.yahoo.com