Sector attracts interest

 By SHIRLEY MAULUDU

THERE has been “massive” interest in the country’s oil and gas sector in recent years, according to Petroleum and Energy Minister Nixon Duban.

He told the Mining and Petroleum conference in Port Moresby that there had been interest in PNG’s oil and gas sector from regions including Europe and Asia.  

“So far, we have gone into a period where a lot of new interest (and) new applications have come in to study the exploration,” Duban said.

“We welcome the opportunities. 

“We welcome those interests.

“We want to go into partnership with all the companies who are in the industry.

“We have a country where there are more excitement in all other areas, those that are under-explored – in Lae, Wewak,  and in Central. I know for sure the number of activities at this point in time as compared to those three years ago. 

“You can’t believe the number of interest that we are seeing in terms of exploration.

“For PNG, the landscape of the oil and gas industry is constantly changing. 

“I’d like to believe that there is huge interest from Europe. There is more interest coming in from Europe, Asia. 

“We are happy to host a lot more than what we have on record.”

He said the Department of Petroleum and Energy was working on improving the sector.

He said the department faced issues of capacity, compliance and monitoring.