Gas deal fails to include clause, says minister

National

MINISTER for Petroleum and Energy Dr Fabian Pok says the Government had not included a clause on domestic market obligations in the gas agreement that some be used domestically for electricity.
Responding to Finschhafen MP Reinbo Paita’s question on why the Government was not using gas for cheaper energy, Pok said all the gas produced under the agreement was to be exported.
He said the first PNG LNG project agreement failed to include a clause on the domestic market obligation “so we do not have any gas for power generation and downstream processing”.
“All the gas produced under the agreement is to be exported. We did not have a clause for domestic market obligations that is why we have big land at the site,” Pok said.
“For a country to grow, we need domestic gas to put into a power plant which is much cheaper than diesel or hydro. We did not put a clause for some of the gas to be used domestically for electricity and other petroleum product.”