Papua New Guinea keen to buy bigger stake in PNG LNG from Santos

The Papua New Guinea government wants to buy a total stake of 10% in PNG LNG from Australia's Santos Ltd STO, beyond the 5% that state-owned Kumul Petroleum has offered to buy for $1.1 billion, Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua said on Tuesday.

"Santos wants to give 10% up. That's no question on their part. But who gets it is the question," Kua told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a conference in Sydney.

"State wants it, but our challenge is how do we finance 10% and not just 5%," he said.

A Santos spokesperson was not immediately available to comment.