By FRANK ASAELI
THE Government received an interim dividend of over K23 million from Oil Search Ltd yesterday.
The turnover of the dividend cheque was made at the Independent Public Commission (IPBC) office in downtown Port Moresby.
Oil Search shareholders are continuing to reap the rewards of the company’s impressive growth over the last five years.
The State, as Oil Search’s single largest shareholder, had not only benefited from this growth but also saw the value of its shareholding rise significantly.
The State received more than K200 million in dividends from Oil Search since it became the major shareholder in 2002.
“The company greatly values the partnership it has with the State, as our interests are fully aligned,” Oil Search general manager Gerea Aopi said.
Handing over the interim dividend cheque of K23,129,899.48 to State Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare, Mr Aopi said apart from receiving dividends, the State’s shareholding in the company was now worth more than K2 billion, having tripled over the past four years.
“The key achievement from an operational perspective has been the turnaround in production from our mature PNG fields,” Mr Aopi said.
He said: “Since assuming operational control of the oil fields in 2003, Oil Search had produced over 40 million barrels of oil over and above the original expectations and the oil field life has been materially extended.”
Prior to Oil Search taking over operatorship, PNG’s oil fields were in significant decline, at 20% a year.
There was limited new investment, little maintenance to plant and facilities and very little exploration taking place.
Since 2003, Oil Search had driven resurgence in investment that delivered higher oil production at lower costs, extended the field life at Kutubu, Gobe and Moran, developed two new fields at South East Mananda and North West Moran and expanded exploration activity.
The oil company also achieved world-class safety performance while delivering all these.
“This has created real value for both the company and the country,’’ Mr Aopi said.