The highly anticipated Papua LNG project is expected to reach a final investment decision in early 2026. This week, senior representatives of project lead TotalEnergies and the PNG government signalled that an FID is drawing closer.

Petroleum Minister Jimmy Maladina (centre) at the opening session of the 2025 Petroleum and Energy Conference in Port Moresby yesterday. Also pictured (from left): Dr Fereidun Fesharaki, Abdul Qadir Malik (TotalEnergies E&P), Joe Keith (S&P Global), Minister for State-owned enterprises William Duma, and Dinesh Sivasambo (ExxonMobil PNG). Credit: PEC 2025

While French super major TotalEnergies last week announced it would spend US$16 billion on capital expenditure globally in 2026, we don’t yet know how much of that sum, if any, will be spent on its planned Papua LNG project in PNG.

The project has yet to reach its final investment decision (FID), currently anticipated in early 2026.

At an investor’s briefing in New York last week, TotalEnergies’ CEO Patrick Pouyanné released a list of some 18 energy projects the company has slated to start production before 2030.

With production mooted to start post-2030, Papua LNG wasn’t one of them.

However, at the 2025 Petroleum and Energy Conference at Port Moresby’s Stanley Hotel yesterday, TotalEnergies E&P PNG’s Business Development Director Abdul Qadir Malik said FID was “in line of sight,” with the process of reviewing the project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) costs now at a “clarification” stage.

Both Malik and PNG’s Petroleum Minister Jimmy Maladina reassured the conference that they were confident the remaining “hurdles” before FID could be overcome.

Production sharing

In the meantime, Maladina said the government is set to layout its long-held plans for a move to production sharing contracts for petroleum and gas projects. The new system – which will not apply to the Papua LNG, PNG LNG, P’nyang or Pasca A gas projects – was necessary for “stronger, fairer and more transparent outcomes” in the sector, he said.

Combined with the continued rise to prominence of Kumul Petroleum Holdings (PNG’s state-owned national energy company) and global moves to lower carbon emissions, PNG’s energy sector is looking at significant changes.

Increased focus

This is one reason why Business Advantage PNG last year started to ramp up its coverage of the resources sector by launching Mining & Energy, a special publication dedicated to the sector.

The second edition of Mining & Energy was launched yesterday at the 2025 Petroleum and Energy Conference.

In preparing this edition, our editorial team interviewed dozens of key industry executives, both within PNG and internationally, in both majors and juniors. We also talked to many business leaders that provide products and services to the sector.

As industry analysts note in the new edition, with world demand for its mineral resources high, PNG is in the right place at the right time. We’re delighted to be here to help make sense of exactly what’s going on and where the opportunities for businesses of all sizes lie in the years to come.

Mining & Energy will be published annually in both print and digital formats, and will shortly also have a prominent online home.