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Exxon's LNG Project Seen Shut for Six Weeks After Earthquake

  • UBS lowers Oil Search 2018 EPS forecast on PNG disruption
  • Surveillance of gas pipeline shows no damage from quake: Exxon
Lights from a police car are reflected on Exxon Mobil Corp. signage displayed at the company's Torrance Refinery in Torrance, California, U.S.
Lights from a police car are reflected on Exxon Mobil Corp. signage displayed at the company's Torrance Refinery in Torrance, California, U.S.Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/
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Exxon Mobil Corp.’s $19 billion liquefied natural gas export project in Papua New Guinea may remain shut for six weeks after an earthquake rocked the country’s remote highlands, which are home to the venture’s upstream gas supplies, according to UBS Group AG.

The LNG plant, which accounts for about 3 percent of global production, lies roughly 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the epicenter of the earthquake and exported about 7.8 million tons of the fuel last year to buyers in Japan, China and Taiwan, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. There have been dozens of aftershocks since the 7.5 magnitude temblor struck early Monday.