InterOil and Noble sign heads of agreement for LNG sale

InterOil Corporation and Pacific LNG Operations Ltd, joint developers of Gulf LNG in Papua New Guinea's Gulf of Papua have announced the signing of a heads of agreement (HOA) with Noble Clean Fuels Ltd , a wholly-owned subsidiary of Noble Group Ltd, for the supply of one million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The HOA sets out the basis upon which the parties intend to conclude terms for the purchase and sale of one mtpa of LNG, for a period of 10 years commencing in 2014, to be supplied by the proposed Gulf LNG project in PNG.

The parties to the HOA intend to complete negotiations and execute binding agreements later this year.

A   Singapore stock exchange listed company, Noble Group is a market leader and manages a global supply chain of agricultural and energy products, metals and minerals.

Noble operates from over 120 offices in 40 countries, with over 11,000 employees from 80 nationalities and manages a diversified portfolio of essential raw materials, integrating sourcing, marketing, processing, financing and transportation.

Noble owns and manages an array of strategic assets, sourcing from low cost producers such as Brazil, Argentina, Australia and Indonesia and supplying to high growth demand markets including China, India and the Middle East.

At present, Noble has interests in grain crushing facilities, coal and iron ore mines, fuel terminals and storage facilities, sugar and ethanol plants, ports, vessels and other key infrastructure.

The Gulf LNG project comprises the Elk and Antelope gas fields and Liquid Niugini Gas Ltd., the InterOil and Pacific LNG joint-venture project company, with modular LNG plants contracted with Energy World Corp Ltd and a fixed floating LNG facility being developed with Flex LNG Ltd and Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd.

 InterOil's chairman and CEO Phil Mulacek said: "We are pleased to have executed our first HOA for LNG off-take from our Gulf LNG project in Papua New Guinea. "InterOil is proud to work with the Noble Group, which has a proven track record of providing long-term fuel supply to major utilities across Japan, Korea, China, and Asia as a whole."

Liquid Niugini Gas vice-president for LNG marketing, Conrad Kerr said: "Noble is a good fit for the InterOil strategy of mid-scale and modular production, and LNG supply is a natural expansion of the Noble Group's historical relationships in long-term coal supply for power generation."