In spite of the recent worldwide slump in commodity prices, numbers were strong at this week’s 13th Papua New Guinea Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference in Sydney. Business Advantage PNG examines why.
Mining & Energy
Arbitration talks due to take place in London at the end of this month could have a major influence on the future development of Papua New Guinea’s oil and gas industry.
Next month’s Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference in Sydney will take a critical look at how the industry can build on recent successful ventures in Papua New Guinea, as it deals with the global downturn.
Puma Energy, which acquired the downstream assets of InterOil Corporation in Papua New Guinea in the the middle of 2014, is planning a major US$220 million upgrade of its Napa Napa refinery outside Port Moresby. According to a senior Puma executive, the upgrade will facilitate not only more reliable domestic supplies of petroleum products, but exports.
Cott Oil and Gas Ltd has undergone a restructure to allow the company to focus on developing what could be Papua New Guinea’s first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project – at the Pandora gas field in the Gulf of Papua. Cott’s Managing Director Andrew Dimsey outlines the company’s plans to Business Advantage PNG.
Puma Energy is starting to show its colours in Papua New Guinea, with the rebranding of its first service station following the acquisition of InterOil’s downstream assets in PNG earlier this year. It’s part of a regional investment strategy, PNG General Manager Peter Diezmann tells Business Advantage PNG.
There is enough gas capacity in PNG for at least three more LNG trains over the next five-to-seven years, according to Oil Search CEO, Peter Botten, who’s called for gas developers to co-operate and share facilities.
The Bougainville parliament has just passed an interim mining act, paving the way for its troubled Panguna copper mine to re-open. Even though the new act removes the automatic renewal of its lease to continue, Bougainville Copper Limited is still the preferred mine operator, as Kevin McQuillan reports.
Cashed up after the completion of several recent deals, oil and gas company InterOil Corporation has widened its exploration focus to include up to 40 promising new targets.
Australian-based Kula Gold says the granting of a mining lease to develop its Woodlark Island Gold Project is a ‘milestone’, for both itself and the Papua New Guinea Government. The next step is to confirm financing for the project, Kula’s Chief Executive Officer Stuart Pether tells Business Advantage PNG.