MINISTER for Petroleum, Kerenga Kua clarified in Parliament the license for the Pasca A gas project negotiation is different from the Pandora gas and that Pandora gas still remains the State property.
Minister Kua was responding to a series of questions from Governor for Gulf Chris Haiveta on the status of the Pasca A agreement including the Papua LNG project and other off-shore gas project in the Gulf province.
The Twinza Oil (PNG) as the developer for the Pasca A project has recently proposed for both Pasca and Pandora license be aligned to ensure that gas aggregation in the Gulf of Papua can be delivered for the benefit of Papua New Guinea.
Pandora itself has sat underdeveloped for 30 years being uneconomic as a standalone project.
Twinza Chairman and CEO, Ian Munro in a recent media statement said the Industry is closely watching the Pandora license award to gauge transparency and whether the government will support a proven offshore operator and stimulate additional exploration and development investments.
While Minister Kua agreed on Twinza’s interest in broadly aligning the two licenses that will generate much needed revenue into the country, he however said the decision on whether that should happen has to be made by an independent process.
“Other developers have already applied and it has to go through the Petroleum Advisory Board within the Department of Petroleum before a license is awarded.
“We cannot bring Pandora inside and deal together with Pasca. Pandora must go through a separate process,” Kua said.
Minister Kua added that the mistake the government will make is to break our own laws and bring in the negotiation when currently negotiation for one license is still in progress.
Meanwhile, Minister Kua assured the Parliament and the people of Gulf that most of the work has been done for the Papua LNG project.
However, the court-injunction has stopped the continuation of the SLMI and Land Owner Identification (LOBID) and Social Mapping in the LNG area.
Kua said his Department had already filed an application to get rid of the injunction.
The National Court is expected to hand down its decision on application whether the injunction will continue or they will get rid of it.
He said if the decision is successful, all process including the LOBID and SMLI be finalized and ready for operation in 2023 going forward.