CANBERRA, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean announced on Tuesday that the Australian Government has offered a loan of up to 500 million U.S. dollars to support Australian participation in the development of the world-scale Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

    "The Exxon Mobil project is vital to PNG's economic well-being, potentially putting PNG on a more sustainable economic growth path," Crean said, "This project will provide a boost to PNG, the region and Australia."

    "It is estimated 12,000 skilled and unskilled workers will be required for the PNG gas project."

    Australian exporters have already been identified as the preferred tenderers for 1.2 billion U.S. dollars of contracts. With the announcement of the project going ahead there is up to three billion U.S. dollars of project-related contracts potentially available for Australian exporters, according to Crean.

    LNG is increasingly in demand as the requirement for cleaner sources of energy grows. Beyond Australia's competitive advantage and expertise in this field, the PNG development could enhance the significance of the region as a reliable global supplier of energy, Crean said.

    "In this regard the Australian Government, with the PNG Government, is focused on ensuring that the project lives up to its potential, and benefits all regions and people of PNG."

    Australian companies Oil Search and Santos hold over 40 percent equity in the project. The loan is to be provided to the project sponsors through Australia's Export Finance and Insurance Corporation.

    The project is a world-scale vertically integrated upstream natural gas and liquefied gas development led by Exxon Mobil Corporation. Phase One of the project has an estimated value of 18.3 billion U.S. dollars. Export production is expected to commence in 2014.