By Natasha Ovoi
The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) has received an application for clearance from JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration (Papua LNG) Pty Ltd (the applicant) for its proposal to acquire a minor stake (about 2.580645%) in the Papua LNG Project from TotalEnergies EP PNG Limited, the operator of Papua LNG Project.
ICCC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Paulus Ain expressed that the applicant is seeking clearance from the ICCC because the proposed transaction falls under the mandatory notification thresholds set under section 81(1)(a) of the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission Act, 2002 (ICCC Act).
According to Commissioner Ain, the parties to the Proposed Acquisition are players in PNG’s upstream market for Oil and Gas and the proposed acquisition may impact exploration, development and production activities in PNG’s Oil and Gas sector.
Meanwhile ICCC invited interested parties and individuals to provide written submissions, comments or views on the likely competition impacts this Proposed Acquisition may have in the market, with the deadline being yesterday.
Clearance is a transparent process where the ICCC publicly invites views and comments from all relevant stakeholders including the public who may have an interest to put forward and anti-competitive impacts that the proposed acquisition may have in the relevant market.
Commissioner Ain explained that the consultation process also enables the ICCC to test publicly the submissions of the applicant with regards to the competition arguments put forward and participate in the assessment process.
He went on to mention that all submissions will be treated publicly except where information is designated “confidential” by the submitter.
