Jet fuel demand drops

The National Business

By PETER ESILA
JET fuel consumption in Papua New Guinea has dropped by more than 70 per cent due to reduced flights because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the only supplier of Jet A-1 in the country, Puma Energy Ltd.
Puma general manager and director Hulala Tokome told The National that having the Napa Napa Refinery had enable Puma to adjust to make more diesel and lessen the jet fuel production catering for the market demand with proper forecasting.
Puma manufacture and supplies 100 per cent of the country’s jet fuel requirements with customers ranging from Air Niugini and PNG Air through to a number of general aviation operators as well as key mining and oil and gas operators in the country.
“The jet fuel price has reduced quite significantly for the month of April as global oil prices have fallen,” Tokome said.
“As we are the only supplier of Jet A-1 in PNG we support all industries that use jet fuel.”
Tokome said Puma remained committed to supporting the state of emergency (SOE) and various front line institutions in the fight against Covid-19.
“We have the storage facilities to meet all of PNG’s fuel requirements,” he said.
“What’s also great about having the refinery right here in PNG, is that we are self-sufficient in producing our very own PNG-made fuel and gas requirements of which we also have storage facilities in country that provide stock cover for up to three months.”
Puma Energy has already focused on a number of areas in order to support the PNG community during the current SOE.
These areas include:

  • Maintenance of critical energy supply throughout the country during this pandemic to ensure the PNG economy, commerce and trade can continue as intended;
  • Subsidising fuel requirements and providing priority access to refuelling locations of SOE operations (including police and armed forces), to ensure these critical resources can operate effectively and efficiently throughout the country;
  • Providing fuel and facilities to support the front line medical centres; and,
  • Retention of our full staff complement, on full pay, to minimise the impact on communities who rely on our people’s income as key to their livelihood.