Oil Search reaffirms commitment to Gulf

ELECTRICITY from gas to the people of Gulf will be one of the top priorities of Oil Search, managing director Peter Botten says.
He gave this assurance during a meeting with Governor Chris Haiveta and members of the provincial government and administration in Kerema on Wednesday.
Also present were representatives of Kumul Petroleum, Mineral Resources Development Company, Department of Petroleum and Energy and Gas Projects Coordination Office.
Botten said Oil Search was fully supportive of Gulf gas to be used for industry and power-generation.
He said the company was already using gas from Hides for power generation in Tari and other parts of Hela.
“Isn’t that logical? You’ve got billions of kina worth of gas going to Japan for electricity generation, and the guys outside the fence don’t have power. How long does that last?” he said.
“It’s not sustainable.”
He said working with Kumul Petroleum on a power partnership was the way to go for Gulf.
“We can start delivering reliable, cost-effective power across this province,” Botten said.
“We can also deliver infrastructure, ports and others. We think this is all possible based on the resource base you have right now in the Gulf.”
He said Oil Search was now assessing three gas fields in Gulf which would create local employment, power generation and business opportunities.
“All these will come down to a gas hub in Gulf which can be used to create business opportunities for people here,” Botten said.