Il Nuovo Postiglione - ExxonMobil urged to re-think Papua New Guinea gas project

The US-based energy giant struck a deal last month to take control of Papua LNG, which aims to tap into massive gas fields nestled in the forests of Papua New Guinea.

A 320-kilometre (200-mile) pipeline will be built to transport extracted gas to a coastal processing facility, eventually pumping out 5.6 million tonnes of liquified natural gas each year.

With a final government decision expected in December, the Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights (CELCOR) has written to ExxonMobil to express concern.

"The Papua LNG footprint will pass through densely forested landscapes, fragile ecosystem, floodplains and mangrove-covered coastlines," the centre wrote in a letter seen by AFP.

"The project area-of-influence includes 27 terrestrial species already at threat of extinction."

One species potentially at risk was the Bulmer's fruit bat, the centre wrote.

At last count there were fewer than 200 adult bats in the wild, according to world authority the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Dozens more species that have rarely been studied outside Papua New Guinea were also feared to be in harm's way.

"If external scientists have never studied a species, then potential risks cannot be accurately understood, let alone mitigated," the letter read.

The gas fields were discovered more than a decade ago but the project has been beset by a series of political and financial issues.

It has stirred a mix of excitement at the prospect of new jobs and investment, and worry about possible environmental damage.

ExxonMobil agreed to take over as operator in September, assuming responsibility from France-based energy major TotalEnergies, which retains a significant stake.

Australian gas exploration company Santos and Papua New Guinea's national energy company Kumul Petroleum are among the other major partners.

CELCOR executive director Peter Bosip said he worried many communities were still in the dark over the project's potential impacts.

"The landowners are not particularly clear about the social and environmental impacts of the project, so the government must not rush this project," he told AFP.

Environmental advocacy group Market Forces said Papua LNG posed a risk to one of the world's biodiversity hotspots.

"At least 32 banks and export credit agencies around the world have ruled out financing Papua LNG due to serious human rights, biodiversity and climate risks," said Market Forces campaigner Angelica Mantikas.

Papua LNG has previously said that it integrated "environmental and social considerations into every state of its development".

This included efforts to limit the project's climate impact and measures to ensure that biodiversity continued to flourish.

AFP contacted ExxonMobil and Papua LNG for comment.

E.Scozzafava--INP