Law to change role of holding companies, says Basil

AN organic law on mining and petroleum will be introduced in the next Parliament sitting which will change the role of the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL) and Kumul Mineral Holdings Limited (KMHL), says national planning and monitoring Minister Sam Basil.
Basil made the remarks during the presentation of KPHL’s second interim dividend payment of K100 million to the State yesterday.
He said the government will support the new law which would allow both organisations to work together with the government to achieve its vision to develop the country through resource exploitation. KPHL managing director Wapu Sonk explained that with the proposed legislation, the changes in roles would see the organisations role being enhanced and would entail ownership of petroleum licences.
“At the moment the Department of Petroleum and Energy controls those licences but with the new legislation, those licences will be transferred to Kumul Petroleum,” he said.
“This means that for exploration, drilling exploitation, production, marketing and all aspects of oil and gas will be done through Kumul Petroleum, the single point of contact and the benefits that flow from that include taxes getting paid but through the National Petroleum Authority.
“So it will be part of the legislative amendments that will be done.”
Sonk clarified that the dividend that was paid to the state was not the final dividend for 2020 but the second interim payment for the year. He said the prices of oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) have been affected in recent times and that would determine the final dividend which would be paid later.
Prime Minister James Marape thanked KPHL and announced that Cabinet had approved a dividend declaration policy for the Kumul companies which would see 10 per cent of Kumuls dividend retained for community interventions.