TotalEnergies Cuts Papua LNG Cost to $14 Billion, Exxon to Become Operator

M&A · PartnershipCommodity Impact 4
โดย Oilprice.com·PGFR·Read original
Summary · why it matters

TotalEnergies has taken major steps toward a final investment decision on the Papua LNG project in Papua New Guinea, cutting estimated capital expenditure to around $14 billion and agreeing to transfer operatorship to ExxonMobil. The French energy major said project optimization and new engineering, procurement and construction tenders have generated close to $4 billion in cost savings since 2024, including changes to the upstream condensate development and increased integration with existing PNG LNG infrastructure. ExxonMobil will become operator of Papua LNG, expanding its role in the country's LNG sector, and will hold a 34.1% stake, while TotalEnergies will sell a 9.1% interest to partners, reducing its stake to 20%. Santos will own 21%, ENEOS Xplora 2.4%, and PNG state entities Kumul Petroleum and MRDC a combined 22.5%. The partners have also finalized amendments to the 2019 gas agreement with the government, and TotalEnergies and PNG state entities have created an LNG marketing joint venture to commercialize 2.4 million tonnes per year from the project's planned total production of 5.6 million tonnes per year. TotalEnergies has signed a heads of agreement to purchase 1.5 million tonnes per year from that venture. The moves bring the project closer to an FID, which Santos said remains on track for the fourth quarter of 2026.

Impact on stocks 2

Energy▲ · 1 stocks
TotalEnergies SE
TTE
▲ PositiveCapitalrelevance

TotalEnergies cut Papua LNG capex to ~$14B with ~$4B savings and moved the project closer to FID, though it reduces its stake to 20%.

Energy Transition & Power Demand▲ · 1 stocks
Exxon Mobil Corp
XOM
▲ PositiveCapitalrelevance

ExxonMobil will become operator of Papua LNG and hold a 34.1% stake, expanding its role in PNG's LNG sector.

Theme Impact 1

Off-coverage companies 4

Santos LtdPrivate▲ Positive
Capitalrelevance

Santos will own 21% of Papua LNG and said the project's FID remains on track for Q4 2026.

ENEOS Xplora Inc.Private± Mixed
relevance

Kumul Petroleum Holdings LimitedPrivate± Mixed
relevance

Mineral Resources Development Company LimitedPrivate± Mixed
relevance

Related news

3impact 4

Trump signs Russia sanctions bill, granting tariff authority over countries buying Russian oil

US President Trump signed the Russia sanctions bill into law on the 18th. The law grants the president the authority to impose tariffs on countries that purchase Russian oil products. It allows the president to impose a 500% tariff on Russian goods imported into the United States, and to impose an additional 100% tariff on the top five energy-importing countries, countries importing Russian crude oil and natural gas, and countries that help evade sanctions. This tariff authority expires after five years. The top five buyers of Russian oil products include China, India, and US ally Turkey, and they could be subject to a broad range of new tariffs. The law also extends the application deadline of the 1996 Iran Sanctions Act to 2031, imposing secondary economic sanctions on non-US companies that trade with Iran; it had been due to expire this year. The Russian presidential administration said on the 17th that the US Congress's passage of the bill was an "unfriendly" move and warned it could affect negotiations aimed at ending the war.
Energy Transition & Power Demand
Bloomberg·43mRead more →
2impact 4

Trump Signs Russia-Iran Sanctions Law, Authorizing Tariffs of Up to 100%

US President Donald Trump signed into law a Russia sanctions bill on Friday, September 18. The law grants authority to expand sanctions, impose customs duties and various prohibitions against Russia, while renewing existing sanctions on Iran. The law, named the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, imposes sanctions on Russian officials, Russian banks and vessels used to transport energy from Russia, and gives Trump the authority to levy tariffs of up to 100% on goods from the five countries that import the most oil or natural gas from Russia. It also extends the Iran Sanctions Act for another five years to maintain sanctions targeting Iran's energy and weapons sectors. The US House of Representatives passed the bill on Wednesday, September 16, after the Senate approved it on August 7. The law is a major achievement carrying on the legacy of Lindsey Graham, the former senator who championed the bill and died in July after a sudden illness. However, the bill faced more division in the House than in the Senate, with three Democratic members of the House saying in a joint statement recently that the law may do more harm than good because it greatly increases Trump's power to set tariffs but does not compel him to impose sanctions on Russia.
Energy Transition & Power Demand Defense & Geopolitical Fragmentation
InfoQuest·2hRead more →
▼impact 4

Eknat Unveils Energy Restructuring Plan, Reserving 10,000 Megawatts of Rooftop Solar for the Public

Energy Minister Eknat Prompan has unveiled a major energy restructuring plan, under which the government will reserve 10,000 megawatts of rooftop solar generating capacity specifically for the public, set at roughly 5 kilowatts per household, to spread the right across households nationwide. Under the new approach, the state will buy back surplus power and apply it as a discount on the same billing cycle's electricity bill. A 5-kilowatt system can generate about 600 to 700 units per month, worth roughly 2,000 baht or more, and the state will provide a subsidy of 50,000 baht, with the income from the generated power used to pay it off. The equipment is expected to be fully paid off in about 7 to 10 years. On cutting permitting steps, coordination will be handled solely through the distribution utilities, with a target of about 1 week for inspection and acceptance in self-consumption installations, and no more than 1 month in cases of selling power back. For the new Power Development Plan, or PDP, three goals are set: cleanest, most stable, and fairest. It targets raising the share of clean energy from the current level of just over 20% to close to 50% within 10 years, and no less than 65% in the long term, while reducing reliance on spot-market LNG in favor of long-term contracts, and opening the door to future technologies including hydrogen, geothermal, solid oxide fuel cells, and small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs. Meanwhile, the public electricity cost that has been embedded in the power tariff structure for 30 to 40 years amounts to a burden of about 18 billion baht per year. The government has removed this burden from the structure and has already implemented a measure capping the first 200 units of household electricity at 3 baht per unit.
Energy Transition & Power Demand ▲
InfoQuest·2hRead more →
© 2026 MarketDXNews