The reserve estimate for natural gas in Papua New Guinea is 84 percent higher than first thought, warranting a significant expansion, Exxon Mobil said.

Exxon said the reserve estimate at its P'nyang field in the country is around 4.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, an 84 percent increase from a 2012 assessment.

"The increase supports a potential significant expansion of operations in the country," a company statement read.

Exxon is already working with the government of Papua New Guinea on plans to develop the gas discovered in the P'nyang field, situated in the country's Western Province, in liquid form.

Papua New Guinea is positioned well to take advantage of the growing energy demands from economies in the Asia-Pacific region. Many of the island nations in the region lack adequate domestic reserves, so the super-cooled liquefied natural gas, which has more options for delivery than piped gas, fills in the gap.

Exxon said the revision to its reserve estimate supports an expansion of its existing LNG infrastructure near Port Moresby. Its design concept would add another 8 million tons of LNG capacity per year.

"The increase in the estimated resource size of the P'nyang field helps illustrate the tremendous growth opportunities for our operations in Papua New Guinea," Liam Mallon, president of ExxonMobil Development Co., said in the statement.

An LNG project in Papua New Guinea, led by Exxon, marked a milestone with its 100th delivery three years ago. More than 7 million tons of LNG has been shipped from the facility since it opened.

More than a dozen people were left dead after the island was hit with a 7.5-magnitude earthquake in late February. Exxon was forced to shutter LNG operations as a result and some of its infrastructure was damaged.

The World Food Program estimated more than 270,000 people still need humanitarian assistance.

Massive gas plant resumes operations after severe PNG quake
Sydney (AFP) April 13, 2018 - ExxonMobil's massive gas project has resumed operations in Papua New Guinea after a major earthquake damaged the plant, the US energy giant said Friday, in a boost for the Pacific nation as it rebuilds after the devastation.

More than 125 people were killed and many more injured after the 7.5-magnitude tremor hit the country's mountainous interior on February 26, cutting off villages and knocking out power.

The quake also damaged facilities at the US$19 billion PNG LNG project operated by ExxonMobil, the impoverished country's biggest-ever development, in the remote Southern Highlands region.

"Resuming LNG production ahead of our projected eight-week timeframe is a significant achievement for ExxonMobil, our joint-venture partners and our customers," ExxonMobil Development Company president Neil Duffin said in a statement.

"We will continue to support those communities impacted by the earthquake as we work toward fully restoring our operations."

The firm said that LNG exports were expected to resume soon.

PNG's economic growth is heavily dependent on its natural resources, and the resumption of operations would be a relief to authorities.

The country was also boosted by news from ExxonMobil on Thursday that the amount of gas believed to be held at the P'nyang field in the Western Province was 4.36 trillion cubic feet, a 84 percent jump from a 2012 assessment.

This meant there was a potential "significant expansion of operations" in PNG, the company said.

There are regular earthquakes in PNG, which sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire -- a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

The February quake was described by Australian officials as the biggest to hit the highland region in a century, with countless aftershocks also rattling residents.

Some traumatised villagers had told local media they were suspicious of the plant's operators and fearful they might have been using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and destabilised the rock structure underneath.

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has said there was no evidence the energy developments were linked to the quake, but asked the Australian government to conduct an independent review into its causes.

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