Petromin, Japex in JV

PAPUA New Guinea’s national oil, gas and minerals company Petromin PNG Holdings Ltd (Petromin) has entered into a long-term strategic partnership arrangement with Japan Petroleum Exploration Co Ltd (Japex).
Japex is a publicly-listed company and partly-owned by the Japanese government.
It is the exploration and development company with oil and LNG interests in Japan and other parts of the world.
A statement released yesterday said the agreement on principles for a long-term strategic partnership was signed in Tokyo last Tuesday  in the presence of the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare by Japex president Osamu Watanabe and Petromin managing director Joshua Kalinoe.
Mr Kalinoe said the purpose and intent of the agreement was significant for Petromin because of the value it would bring to the development efforts of the company in both operational and human resource development.
He said the agreement allowed Japex and Petromin to work together in assessing the development opportunities in the hydro-carbon business in PNG, both at exploration and development stages.
Japex will train Petromin staff in all aspects of the hydro-carbon business, including commercial and technical operations using Japex facilities in Japan and elsewhere.
Mr Kalinoe said both Japex and Petromin had agreed to form a relationship that would also facilitate Petromin’s financial obligations in exploration and development, including the Elk/Antelop LNG project in Guld province.
As part of the strategic partnership agreement, a number of technical staff from Petromin would be travelling to Japan this month to work with Japex’s staff on LNG project design and planning, including reservoir management and modelling.