‘No conflict with PNG LNG project’

CANADA’s Talisman Energy Ltd says its operations in the gas and oil industry in PNG will not overlap with the existing and ongoing activities in the oil and gas sector.
 “We will carry out our activity in a slightly different way,” Paul Blakely Talisman’s executive vice president said.
And Western province, which is expecting the closure of the Ok Tedi Mine come 2013, can now eye an entry into the lucrative oil and gas industry as Talisman prepares to work there, thus bringing benefit to the province.
“And relatively for us, we are looking at a part of PNG, which will benefit in a way that we are already starting to see in the Highlands with the PNGLNG (liquefied natural gas) project. “It is important to take note that for us, the activities that Talisman will carry out will not in anyway overlap with the activities that are already going on,” Mr Blakely assured.
He also said Talisman would listen to all stakeholders concerned to ensure that we do things not just well but we do them right”.
He was speaking yesterday in Port Moresby during a brief office opening ceremony where Petroleum and Energy Minister William Duma officiated.
Mr Duma, while welcoming Talisman to PNG, said the company was also a big player in the industry, by PNG standards.
 “For those investors, who are patient and prepared to invest the hard earned shareholders’ money in the country such as this, PNG has demonstrated in the past and it continues to demonstrate that it is a stable country where investors expect a return on their investment.
“PNG has a good history of providing a good investment climate for those who take the risks, usually associated with a developing country such as PNG,” he said, adding PNG had a track record of not backing away from its part of the deal.
Staff of Talisman, most of them from Rift Oil which Talisman had acquired, moved into Level One on Defens Haus in Port Moresby last month.
Talisman is an independent upstream oil and gas company with headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It has operations in Canada and its subsidiaries operate in UK, Norway, Southeast Asia (which includes PNG and Australia assets), North African and US.