Dept not ready: Puiye

Business

By SHIRLEY MAULUDU
THE Department of Petroleum and Energy is currently not in a position to cater for the country’s growing petroleum and energy industry, acting secretary Kepsey Puiye says.
Puiye told The National that the department understood that the industry was developing with resources being discovered and projects yet to be developed.
“That is a very good question: How is DPE positioning itself to cater for an industry that is expanding and growing?” he said.
“My simple answer is that DPE is not well positioned and not well prepared to cater for such expansion and growth under the current environment it operates in.
“The DPE needs to be converted into an authority as soon as possible so that fundamental elements such as discipline, capacity, competency and funding issues are well addressed and a culture of professionalism is cultivated.”
Puiye told The National last month that the department was working on the change to an authority within the next 12 months.
He said he had written to the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum seeking assistance to establish the authority.
Puiye said the chamber had provided him with a list of representatives from the industry such as Santos, ExxonMobil, Oil Search and Repsol.
“I’m working with them now. I’ve actually written to the Chamber of Mines and Petroleum and said that I need assistance,” he said.
“I need to set up a secretariat for the authority.
“The secretariat will be the main vehicle which will undertake all the key deliverables and activities to set up the authority.”