PM Marape welcomes Japanese investment in Petroleum sector

By Malum Nalu blog

Prime Minister James Marape says Papua New Guinea welcomes any investments in the petroleum sector.
He said this during a meeting with representatives of Japanese investor, LNG Japan Corporation, in Port Moresby last week.
The LNG Japan delegation was led by President and CEO Hiroshi Kawahara (pictured above with Prime Minister Marape).

LNG Japan is studying feasibility of potential LNG-to-power projects in PNG, leveraging its long experiences in the LNG industry, including a small-scale domestic LNG sea transportation project in Indonesia.
It is also looking at producing methanol as a raw material for plywood manufacture, hence, contributing to downstream processing of logs.
National Planning Minister Sam Basil (who is responsible for Kumul Petroleum Holdings Ltd), Commerce and Industry Minister William Duma, and KPHL Managing-Director Wapu Sonk also attended the meeting.
“I will give 100 per cent support if you show me that you can create employment,” Prime Minister Marape said.
“I don’t mind giving you a tax-holiday, if you can create employment for our citizens.”
Prime Minister Marape welcomed LNG Japan Corporation plans to operate in Kikori, Gulf, where a Special Economic Zone is planned to be built.
“We want to create cheap electricity for the whole country over the next 10 years,” he said.
“This is why we are pushing for a minimum 10 per cent of any gas found in the future.
“Kumul Petroleum will pick up this 10 per cent and use it.
“We will want to create by-products from this gas, but first and foremost, is cheap electricity.”
Prime Minister Marape told Sonk to continue discussions with LNG Japan Corporation and keep Ministers Basil and Duma in the loop
LNG Japan Corporation, established in 2001, is a 50-50 Venture between two leading Japanese trading companies, Sojitz Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation.
LNG Japan, from the days of its predecessor, has over 40 years of experience in upstream development, financing, marketing, trading and shipping in the global LNG Industry.
LNG Japan and Kumul Petroleum entered into a joint venture agreement on June 7, 2017 (amended on August 2, 2018) to set up the unincorporated joint venture for marketing of spot and short-term cargoes from PNG LNG.
The company, together with JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration Corporation and Marubeni Corporation (Japanese consortium) and Kumul Petroleum entered into a memorandum-of-understanding on August 30, 2018, to jointly pursue any opportunities to participate in the Papua LNG Project, as equity participants and financiers.
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Go to this link for more: https://malumnalu.blogspot.com/2019/12/pm-marape-welcomes-japanese-investment.html

PM: Safe to invest

Posted on The National

PRIME Minister James Marape, pictured, has assured investors that the Government is pro-investment and pro-business and will protect the nation’s reputation as a safe investment destination.
He was responding to his predecessor and Ialibu-Pangia MP Peter O’Neill who said last week that the shutting down of the Ramu nickel and cobalt mine in Madang was “bad for investment”.
“It is greatly irresponsible of the former prime minister to paint a negative image with smear motive, when responsible agencies of State are doing their job to ensure that the mine operation is assessed for its safety compliance after the spill,” Marape said.
“I will be the last prime minister to compromise the safety of our people and environment. It is prudent that reviews are undertaken so that the mine is safe from structural and systematic defects.”
Marape said negotiations teams led by resource ministers had been set up for key resources projects such as in Pogera, Wafi Golpu and the Pynyang LNG.
He expects that in December, “the form and shape of those discussions should emerge”.
He said the Papua LNG that O’Neill oversaw “is now progressing with Parliament amending laws congruent to the Gas Agreement.”
“And I am informed that Total is mobilising,” Marape said.
“This all happened after Petroleum Minister (Kerenga) Kua was able to pick additional winners which the agreement (engineered by O’Neill) overlooked.
“We have been engaged with the industries as well as landowners and provincial governments. The country must know that we have not been doing nothing.”
He said investment partners must know the laws and comply with them.
“We are restoring a broken down system of government which the former PM weakened in the eight years he led the country. No prime minister must become the lead project negotiator as it was the case on Papua LNG.
“The country is bigger than the PM and I believe in the power of the system of government filtering project proposals. Many heads discuss our national interest instead of one person in a bar or a private boardroom somewhere.
“And we want to progress the projects at the earliest but on terms that respect our laws and the future we want to take our country into as far as project agreements and resource harvesting are concerned,” Marape said.


Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/pm-safe-to-invest/