By Stanley Ove Jr – EM TV News, Port Moresby
The Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Nixon Duban, has issued a warning to cancel oil and gas licenses from holders who are not fully utilising them for the benefit of the country.
Duban said there is a growing trend in PNG where some licenses are being warehoused. Meaning, license holders are not considering the local economy, and are using the licenses as a commodity to sell.
“I made this call in Sydney during the mining and petroleum conference. There are a lot of people who are convenient riders with oil and gas licenses that are yet to be developed,” Duban said.
Duban also said the current Oil and Gas Act must be revised to cater for new developments in the oil and gas industry.
“The new offshore project in the Gulf Province has no landowners, but as a responsible government, we want the full benefit of this project. The current act does not cover these types of situation however we want to review it so we can benefit,” Duban said.
The Minister made these remarks following the announcement of the second major oil and gas project in the Gulf Province that will be developed by oil company, Twinza.
