Minister says experts brought in during P’nyang project talks

PETROLEUM and Energy Minister Kerenga Kua says the State is seeking “expert” advice in relation to discussions on the P’nyang gas project in Western.
Kua denied claims that the State had asked for more than what its stake should be in the project, which led to the failure to reach a deal with the development partners last Friday.
“It’s complex by nature,” he said.
“Only experts deal with these issues.
“As Exxon assembled a team of experts on the other side, the State also assembled a team of internationally acknowledged experts on our side too.
“They went to the negotiating table and the advice we received was that we are not looking at the same set of figures.
“They are coming with a different set of figures, which they (experts) believe was inflated.
“We were coming in with figures based on comparable construction cost and operating cost elsewhere in the world.
“That’s why we were not able to agree based on the expert advice to the State.”
The State negotiating team was not able to reach an agreement with ExxonMobil and development partners last Friday for the P’nyang gas project.
Prime Minister James Marape and development partners had expressed their disappointment.
However, Kua told The National yesterday that the decision to walk away from a deal was in the “best interest of the country”.
“The resource in the ground has been there for millions of years so it can stay in the ground for another few years. It’s not a problem,” he said.