PNG LNG production, loading curtailed by damage at facility: Oil Search

By Srijan Kanoi -S&P Global Platts 

The mooring system at the Oil Search operated Papua New Guinea production facility was reported to be damaged, causing loading and production disruptions, the company said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange Wednesday.

"As a precautionary measure, Oil Search temporarily suspended scheduled liquids loading last week. In addition, to extend the liquids storage available in the liquids export system, the company curtailed production from the Oil Search-operated oil fields and the PNG LNG operator partially reduced PNG LNG production," Oil Search said in the statement.

The company added that due to adverse weather and sea conditions in the Gulf of Papua, the inspection of the mooring system could not be carried out yet.

Oil Search said that they developed a temporary solution for safe berthing and loading of vessels at the facility, which enabled liquids loading to resume at a reduced rate from August 25.

LNG Vessel Kumul is currently anchored at Port Moresby since August 26, waiting to load a cargo from the PNG LNG facility, cFlow, Platts trade flow software showed.

No ships left the port between August 18 to August 25, the data showed. The last LNG vessel to load a cargo and sail from Port Moresby was Maran Gas Leto, which entered the port on August 23 and sailed on August 25, according to Platts cFlow.

Oil search said that they were working closely with the PNG plant operators to ramp up LNG production back to normal. However, they added that it was currently unclear whether it would be necessary to adjust their 2019 production estimate, due to the damaged mooring system and the resultant loading issues.

PNG's LNG facility has an annual nameplate capacity of 6.6 million mt of LNG, according S&P Global Platts Analytics.

Go to this link for more: https://ramumine.wordpress.com/2019/08/29/png-lng-production-loading-curtailed-by-damage-at-facility-oil-search/

ANNA AMOS TO REPRESENT PNG AT PACIFIC FASHION FUSION SHOW IN AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

By PNGFDW Media, Port Moresby

Textile fashion designer Anna Amos will represent PNG at the Pacific Fashion Fusion Show (PFFS) on 5 October 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Ms Amos will be accompanied by a representative of PNG Fashion & Design Week Ltd.

Janet Sios, Director/Founder of PNGFDW Ltd and Chair of the PNG Fashion Festival congratulated Ms Amos on her selection reiterating the platform’s commitment to embarking on meaningful partnerships to support and promote Papua New Guinean designers and their work.

“We are happy to have extended this platform’s network into New Zealand and we know that this is the start of a very fruitful partnership that will bring much good for our PNG designers. I thank Nora Swann and the brilliant team behind her at the Pacific Fusion Fashion Show for reaching out to PNGFDW Ltd and for giving PNG this opportunity to part of this amazing event.

“We hope that through this partnership, more PNG designers will embark on fashion exchange programs with our New Zealand counterparts in the future,” said Sios.

PNG Fashion & Design Week Ltd will also send three designers to Australia for the Pacific International Runway (PIR) Sydney in November, following the completion of the Inclusive Fashion Show in Port Moresby.

“Anna has a wealth of experience as a textile fashion designer and lecturer in textile design at the University of Papua New Guinea. Anna is an exemplary designer and ambassador for the cultural and creative industries in PNG I am certain she will represent this platform and PNG’s budding fashion industry with distinction at the PFFS 2019.

Models for the Inclusive Fashion Show wearing AA Tribal from Anna Amos

“Anna successfully led the PNG Fashion Festival skills development and capacity building programs in Lae, Kokopo and Port Moresby training up to 309 aspiring designers. She and fellow-designer Tabu Pelei Warupi did a fantastic job teaching and sharing their knowledge and expertise with upcoming designers.

“Anna has blessed and enriched so many lives out there through her work. She is so passionate about helping other designers, especially the emerging and those in rural communities and she has transformed the lives of participants this year. With that said, on behalf of the PNGFDW Ltd team and the organizing committee of the PNG Fashion Festival, I wish Anna the very best in her preparations for her trip and I know that she will do this platform and this country proud,” said Sios.

Anna Amos (right) with Tabu Pelei Warupi in Kokopo

Pacific Fashion Fusion Show 2019 is themed ‘fashion factory’ acknowledging the history of families that migrated to Aotearoa (New Zealand. Aotearoa is the Maori name for the country of New Zealand meaning “land of the long white cloud”. According to Maori folklore, the discovery of Aotearoa (New Zealand) was made by the great Polynesian navigator Kupe who came from Hawaiiki, the mythical ancestral homeland of the Māori.

“This year we embark on a journey that looks back in history when families migrated to Aotearoa in search of a better future. The night’s theme of “Fashion Factory” acknowledges where it all began, working endless days and nights during the industrial revolution to provide for families. Inspiration is drawn from the stories of our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents to take us on their journey. We will celebrate their successes with gratitude.” –PFFS 2019

Go to this link for more: https://pngfashiondesign.com/anna-amos-to-represent-png-at-pacific-fashion-fusion-show-in-auckland-new-zealand?fbclid=IwAR3UU7plYnbdQ4zxjdTrJkyT_cd0Dbvn89-QQ2vLn_933qZcx_rdJtXTYlM

Chinese-owned nickel plant spills waste into Papua New Guinea bay

By Melanie Burton and Tom Daly - Reuters

Waste from a nickel plant in Papua New Guinea owned by Metallurgical Corporation of China spilled into the adjacent Basamuk Bay over the weekend, three sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Locals noticed red discharge clouding parts of the bay that is next to the Ramu Nickel plant in Madang, Papua New Guinea, a local indigenous person who took photographs of the spillage told Reuters. The man declined to be identified because of the topic’s sensitivity.

The head of Papua New Guinea’s Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) said that its officials, as well as those from PNG’s Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA), had put together a preliminary report on the incident.

“MRA Mines Inspectors and CEPA Scientists have been at the site since last Monday to conduct investigations,” MRA Managing Director Jerry Garry told Reuters. He was unable to immediately offer additional details.

MCC, a unit of MinMetals, built and operates the plant, which produces nickel sulfate that is sent to China to the battery industry for electric vehicles.

MCC did not respond immediately to an official request for comment.

Nickel sulfate is increasingly used in batteries for electric vehicles as the world transitions to a greener and less polluting economy.

However, investors concerned with responsible sourcing have demanded greater sustainability in procurement and along the supply chain.

A source close to MCC said the incident did not have any adverse impact on the environment.

“There is no impact on marine life and fish. The mining and environment ministry went there but both found no problem,” the source said.

“There is no need to say anything about this. It was a small accident. There was a little leak … but it has no effect on the environment.”

However, Madang Governor Peter Yama called the Basamuk Bay slurry spillage “the worst environmental disaster in PNG history,” according to a report by the country’s Post-Courier newspaper on Monday.

He called for the government to immediately close down the project for its “poor environmental record,” the report said.

Yama also said that the plant’s mining license expired in April, the Post-Courier reported.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape has vowed since he came into power in May to reap more benefits for the impoverished nation from its huge oil, gas and mineral resources partly through mining license renegotiations.

The person who shared the pictures of the spill alleged that the nickel sulfate plant, which disposes of its treated mine waste by pumping them through a pipe into the deep ocean waters, has “destroyed many species of fishes and reefs” since starting up in 2012.

“That’s why as local traditional landowner citizen, I’m very concerned and have ill feelings to this developer and the government of PNG,” the person said.

Ramu produced a record 35,355 tonnes of nickel and 3,275 tonnes of cobalt in concentrate according to Canada-listed Cobalt 27 Capital which holds an 8.6% stake in the operation, and rights to some supply. The company’s Managing Director Anthony Milewski declined to comment on the incident.

Go to this link for more: https://ramumine.wordpress.com/2019/08/29/chinese-owned-nickel-plant-spills-waste-into-papua-new-guinea-bay/

Rai Coast MP Calls for closure of PNG’s Ramu Nickel Mine

NBC News / PNG Facts 

Member for Rai-Coast in Madang Province Peter Sapia is calling for the immediate closure of the Ramu Nickel Mine's Basamuk refinery.

Mr. Sapia's calls follow several images which went viral on social media Facebook, showing the sea's color turning a different shade of red, brown and orange.

He says this is clearly a breach of the company's environmental permit and therefore they shouldn't be allowed to operate there anymore.

Mr. Sapia who directed his question to Minister for Environment of Conservation Geoffrey Kama today in Parliament says as local MP, he wants the Government to go back to the table and negotiate the future of the mine.

“Mr. Speaker according to the Ramu Nickel environment plan, the tailings waste will be processed properly before being discharged into the sea and that there will be zero leakage or spillage.

“I have already engaged an independent mining expert to be on site to conduct a quick inspection which I will present next week.

"Mr. Speaker environmental plans are presented to the Conservation Environment and Protection Authority before any environmental permit is granted to any mine to operate.

“Ramu Nickel has now breached the environmental permit and therefore cannot operate anymore – profit must not be prioritized at the expense of the environment,” Mr. Sapia said.

Meantime Environment and Conservation Minister Geoffrey Kama in response, says he has engaged specialists working in the Department of Mining and they are in the area currently assessing the situation.

Mr. Kama says the suspected spill occurred on Saturday 24th August.

“Em spill tasol, long graun na wara mix I kam em spill na igo insait.”

"Nau ol lain i wok long em I stap.

"They will give me back the report and I am scheduled to go there next Monday.

Mi go long hap na taim mipla i lukim situation em i bagarap, yes bai umi pasim displa main.

"Tasol bai umi lukim ripot na bai umi toktok, mi hamamas olsem man I gat pawa long pasim – Chief Mine Inspector em I stap pinis long hap wantaim olgeta staff blong mi.

“So I kam bek na I go olsem wanem, bai mi kambek na toksave gen,” Kama i tok.

In November 2018, the landowners petitioned the National Government to 'stop the K5 billion project extension-' it is unclear what has become of that petition.

Go to this link for more: https://ramumine.wordpress.com/2019/08/29/rai-coast-mp-calls-for-closure-of-pngs-ramu-nickel-mine/

Investigate MRDC and Petroleum Resources Gobe

By Mack Lone Bolan - Post Courier

Taking back PNG also means ensuring that the politically connected do not out our laws – the case of MRDC.

It is quite alarming to witness that the Office of the Prime Minister and other responsible agencies of government have not found it necessary to inquire into what is unfolding at the MRDC and inform the public to reduce their apprehensions about the government’s resolve on curbing corruption.

We have the chairman of the trustee company, the Petroleum Resources Gobe Ltd (PRG) Philip Kende and the managing director of the manager (MRDC) Mr Augustine Mano engaged in open war of words over a K30.3m which disappeared just weeks before the recent vote of no confidence and there is plenty of speculation surrounding it.

The MRDC is just the manager of the trustee and therefore does not have the authority to be involved in anything relating to policies over the GLC process and the amendments to the provisions of the Oil and Gas Act on the management of the trust funds.

The Chief Secretary to Government, Isaac Lupari, is the chairman of the board of the manager – MRDC. He would be in a unique position to assist the government and inform the project area landowners what the truth is about the missing millions of kina not only the K30.3m but also the K200m reported in the newspapers in December last year.

In the interest of fairness, both men (Kende and Mano) ought to be sidelined and allow the National Fraud and Anti-Corruption Squad led by Chief Superintendent Mathew Damaru with his Officers to have free access to the records and interview staff at the MRDC to settle these things quickly.

The Minister for Petroleum would need to ensure that the Department of Petroleum is still responsible for policy issues in the sector and not stand by and have this function or parts of it performed by someone else such as overseeing the GLC process.

We would really like to believe that the days of “if you are politically connected, you can do anything” are gone but cannot begin to talk about “Taking Back PNG” when we still have an environment where the politically connected feel they can still continue to do anything.

Tok pisin bilong Waigani must stop. Commission and inducements for processing papers, clearing things, responding to correspondences and securing approvals etc. would have to be things of the past.

Only when we have overcome all of the above and more can we begin to feel that we are Taking Back PNG.

Go to this link for more: https://ramumine.wordpress.com/2019/08/29/investigate-mrdc-and-petroleum-resources-gobe/