Eyes on PNG’s energy

 Papua New Guinea still remains an attractive destination for foreign investments despite the recent drop in commodity prices, says executive director of the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, Greg Anderson.

“The successful launch of the US$19 billion (K48b) PNG LNG project has attracted the attention of the energy world with conference participants coming from 17 different countries compared to just six at the previous conference two years ago”

He said with the early start of this project, attention was now turning to the prospect of expansion of capacity at the LNG plant.

“Much of the interest is due to ongoing exploration success particularly in Gulf, where there have been two recent gas-condensate discoveries and ongoing plans for construction of a second LNG plant by InterOil and its partners” Anderson said.

Speaking at a media briefing in Port Moresby last Thursday, Anderson said the 13th PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference held in Sydney had attracted a record attendance that exceeded the numbers at the 2012 conference. He said with the predictions that commodity prices will remain low, most mining and petroleum companies will continue to implement measures to reduce costs to ensure their operations are sustained.

He said despite these setbacks, there is still some interest in PNG and he still sees these projects going forward.