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PNG finally backs Papua LNG deal
POLICY
THE Papua New Guinea (PNG) government has said it will honour the terms of the Papua LNG gas agreement, a er months of mixed messaging that had le the project’s future in doubt.
Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua said on September 3 that the project could proceed in line with the terms of the deal, which the former government signed with the Total-led develop- ment consortium in April.
Total has a 31.1% interest in the Petroleum Retention Licence 15 (PRL 15) joint venture, which is developing the Elk-Antelope gas dis- covery, post the state’s back-in right of 22.5%. ExxonMobil owns 28.3% and Oil Search has the remaining 17.7%.
Commenting on the decision, Oil Search managing director Peter Botten said: “We are pleased that the PNG cabinet has completed its review of the Papua LNG gas agreement and has validated the agreement as executed on April 9, 2019.”
e project’s fate had been up in the air fol- lowing former prime minister Peter O’Neill’s resignation in May. Kua, who was appointed to his position on June 6, has been a vocal critic of the Papua LNG deal. A er saying at the start of August that the Cabinet had “agreed in princi- ple” to honour the agreement, Kua revealed two weeks later that he was leading a team to Singa- pore to renegotiate terms.
is continued uncertainty prompted PNG opposition leader Patrick Pruaitch on August 30 to call on the government to back the deal.
“Abrogation of the Papua LNG agreement
signed in April will jeopardise prospects for PNG’s economic recovery and perpetuate the O’Neill government legacy of falling wages and employment levels,” Pruaitch said. He argued that derailing the agreement would make return- ing economic growth to more than 4% this year extremely di cult.
He added: “ e actions could act as a signal to major international investors to avoid this coun- try. We are treading a very dangerous path.”
In the days before the government finally threw its support behind Papua LNG, Kua revealed that Port Moresby had green lit another, smaller LNG project.
Pasca approved up in the air
The minister said on August 30 that he had
signed a Ministerial Determination allowing
Twinza Oil to progress with the Pasca LNG pro-
ject. e project, which lies in the Gulf of Papua,
aims to bring the country’s rst o shore gas eld
on stream. Twinza has said previously the pro-
ject will produce condensate, liquid petroleum resignation in gas (LPG) and natural gas.
Kua said: “As required by legislation, a devel- opment forum will still need to take place but the site is beyond the shing grounds of the Gulf people, so a er the legal checks and social map- ping the State Solicitor’s O ce has deemed that there are no landowners.” However, the signing of this ministerial determination now allows the bene ts sharing process between the Gulf Pro- vincial Government and the National Govern- ment to move ahead.™
The project’s fate had been
following former prime minister Peter O’Neill’s
May.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 35 05•September•2019