"The opening of this training facility is an important milestone for the PNG LNG project," Esso Highlands managing director Peter Graham said.

"The men and women who are trained here will play a vital role in the construction of the LNG plant and associated marine facilities."

He added the training would be certified to international industry standards, allowing graduates to compete for employment opportunities beyond the construction period of PNG LNG liquefied natural gas project.

The facility, part of the 150 million kina ($A59.9 million) the project is investing in training services and capital costs for training, will train Papua New Guineans for jobs in construction, transport services and LNG plant maintenance.

Graduates will be employed by the LNG plant site landowner company LABA and will work under the direction of Chiyoda Corporation and JGC Corporation's joint venture, CJJV, which is building the LNG plant.

SkillsTech Australia is coordinating the facility, and the training team includes 16 locals who have earned instructor certification.

ExxonMobil added that on completion of the project, PNG LNG will donate the training facility to the PNG government where it will become part of Port Moresby Technical College.

PNG LNG is also building a training facility in the Highlands to prepare locals for construction of the Hides gas conditioning plant.

The $15 billion PNG LNG project is scheduled to start producing from 2014 and is expected to deliver more than 9 trillion cubic feet of gas over its 30-year life.

Partners in the project are operator ExxonMobil (33.2%), Oil Search (29%), IPBC (16.6%), Santos (13.5%), Nippon Oil (4.7%), MRDC (2.8%) and Petromin (0.2%).