Papua New Guinea quake kills at least 14 and closes ExxonMobil LNG plant
A 7.5-magnitude earthquake in the remote Papua New Guinea highlands left up to 14 people dead, leaving collapsed buildings and landslides in its wake, amid unconfirmed reports of as many as 30 fatalities.
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A nurse at Mendi General Hospital told Reuters, "People are afraid. The shaking is still continuing. There's nowhere to go but people are just moving around."
The earthquake also forced ExxonMobil to shut down its $19bn liquefied natural gas plant on the island, which was considered one of the world’s best-performing LNG operations, and was the country’s biggest export earner.
The company said in an e-mailed statement that their main worry was the safety of their staff and contractors and that no injuries had been reported on their end as yet.
However, the oil major said communications remained down as it tried to ascertain the damage wrought by the earthquake on the facilities.
"Communications continue to be one of the most significant challenges," the company also said, with management telling Reuters it was likely that the plant would remain closed for several days.
PNG LNG, which had been exporting more than 8m tonnes a year of LNG, said it was working to reduce the impact of the shutdown on its customers.
Analysts said the impact it might have on the market would depend on for how long it was forced to stay shut.
Prices had recently fallen from where they were at over $10 per million British thermal units as Asia exited the peak winter demand season.