Laitepo gets Hides gas contract

HIDES Gas Development Company Ltd (HGDC) has brought in engineering and construction company Laitepo Construction Ltd (LCL) to participate in business opportunities outside of the five reserved areas in the PNG LNG project.
The company will be engaged in civil construction, building construction, mechanical engineering, gas plant maintenance, electrical and instrumentation (ENI), infield trucking and fuel cartage.
LCL will be 50% owned by HGDC while the other 50% will be jointly owned by landowner companies in Hides petroleum development licence (PDL1) and PDL7, Angore PDL8, Juha PDL9, Komo Airport, Benaria pipeline and others interested in becoming shareholders of the company.
Laitepo is taken from the local Huli dialect meaning gas.
HGDC is the umbrella landowner company of the upstream segment of the PNG LNG project representing Hides PDL7, Hides PDL1, Juha (PDL9), Angore (PDL8), Benaria pipeline, Komo Airport and the Heavy Haul Road.
HGDC chairman Tuguyawini Libe Parindali said the sales of LCL shares opened at the beginning of this month, would close when the HGDC board approved the expiry date.
Minimum purchase price has been set at K200,000 and Parindali said landowner companies should take this opportunity to add value to their companies and, at the same time, add value to HGDC as the umbrella company.
He said the establishment of LCL further added value to HGDC in the longer term and would also make HGDC more competitive in bidding for contracts outside of the reserved areas allocated for the landowners to participate in.
The reserved areas include camp maintenance, catering, security, light vehicle hire and skilled and unskilled labour hire.
“LCL is also our stepping stone to look beyond the PNG LNG project and add value to the company in the long term to sustain it.
“There will be a lot of business opportunities for HGDC when the construction phase of the PNG LNG project ramps up and once construction slows down there will be lesser opportunities and LCL should then be well positioned to look at opportunities elsewhere,” Parindali said.