THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HIDES GASFIELD, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Abstract

The Hides gasfield was discovered by BP, and its Joint Venture Partner Oil Search Ltd, in Petroleum Prospecting Licence No.27 in Southern Highlands Province in late 1987 by the exploration well Hides-1. The well tested gas at rates of up to 15.9 mmscf/d with small volumes of associated condensate from four separate intervals within the Toro Sandstone.

Negotiations with Placer Dome, a Vancouver-based mining company, led to an agreement to sell gas to supply electrical power for the Porgera gold mine in Enga Province 70 km North East from Hides. Approximately 10 mmscf/d of gas will be produced from two wells, one being the original Hides-1 discovery well, via an 8 km pipeline, to a gas processing plant in the nearby Tagari valley. The processed gas will be fed to turbines to generate approximately 42 M W of electrical power which will be fed to the Porgera mine by overhead transmission lines.

BP has undertaken technical studies relating to the feasibility of producing the gas from Hides. In association with the technical work BP has also undertaken an environmental study of the impact of development and has embarked upon a survey of various local and land-related issues. It is anticipated that construction operations will start in early 1990, leading to first gas production in mid-1991, only 3½ years after the discovery. The Hides gasfield development will constitute the first commercial hydrocarbon production in PNG.