PARIS, April 8 (Reuters) - French oil and gas giant

TotalEnergies on Monday said a planned new liquefied

natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea would require

'more work' before a final investment decision decision could be

reached.

TotalEnergies said its Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne

recently told Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape the

project would need to work with third-party contractors to reach

commercially viable engineering, procurement and construction

contracts.

"In that view, the project will review the structure of

some packages and open the competition to an enlarged panel of

Asian contractors. As a consequence, FID (final investment

decision) of Papua LNG project is now expected in 2025," the

company said.

The head of local producer Kumul Petroleum earlier said the

final investment decision was due in 2024.

Marape and Pouyanne agreed the delay would not affect the

early works planned in Papua New Guinea in 2024.

The 5.4 million tonnes per year Papua LNG is the second

major gas project in the impoverished Pacific country and is a

joint venture between TotalEnergies, Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) and

Santos along state-owned Kumul Petroleum.

The resource rich but impoverished South Pacific nation

is looking to boost foreign investment and trade amid a jostle

for influence in the region between the United States and China.

Environmental groups have said the LNG project is

incompatible

with keeping global warming below 1.5 C because of the

emissions produced when the gas is burnt by customers.