Indian minister to visit

Business, Normal
Source:

The National, Monday 08th April, 2013

 By MERESEINI MARAU in New Delhi

INDIA will send a senior government minister soon to visit Papua New Guinea to see first-hand the country’s natural gas and petroleum resources.

Petroleum and Energy Minister William Duma said that India’s Petroleum and Gas Minister Veerappa Moily had told him he wanted to visit PNG when they met in the Indian capital of New Delhi last week. 

Duma and an eight-member delegation were visiting Indian cities including Mumbai, Gujarat and New Delhi, in search of opportunities in the Indian market for natural gas.

The two ministers met during the Petronet LNG Limited foundation day lecture where Duma was the guest speaker.

After hearing about Papua New Guinea, Moily said that a visit to the island-nation should be scheduled as soon as possible.

“India and PNG will be strong and it’s achievable if we do things together,” Moily said.

Duma expressed PNG’s need for competent manpower to adopt and develop technology transfer to its industry and to empower its human resources through investment by the government and private sector.

Duma said there were many opportunities for oil and gas companies of India to be involved in PNG’s petroleum industry.

“In the petroleum, oil and gas sectors, Papua New Guinea has fixed and stable fiscal system giving relative security to investors.”

In India, Duma had the opportunity to see world class petroleum facilities belonging to Mumbai High Oil and Gas Fields and the Dahej LNG terminal in Gujarat where he saw an LNG container vessel unloading LNG from Brunei.

“I am just hoping that maybe one day that terminal will offload gas from my country too.”

Duma and his delegates also met with potential private investors during their trip.

ENDS….