GLNG: Papua New Guinea’s Kumul Petroleum looks to China to fund LNG projects

Papua New Guinea’s state-run Kumul Petroleum is progressing in discussions with several Chinese banks to fund the company’s stakes in two large LNG projects, a senior official at the company revealed on December 11.

Advanced talks have been held with the Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Bank of Communications (BOCOM) as Papua New Guinea rushes to secure funding to ensure the PNG LNG and Papua LNG projects can move ahead.

Kumul Petroleum must come up with about $1.34bn in order to purchase from Australia’s Santos the remainder of a 5% stake in the PNG LNG project as well as fund its 22.5% interest in the Papua LNG project in time for the final investment decision (FID) to be taken in 2024.

Kumul Petroleum has held negotiations with financial institutions in Australia, Europe and the US; however, progress has stalled as pressure mounts from investor groups over environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns.