PNG resources on show at meet

Business

Papua New Guinea’s expanding resources industry will be showcased at a major conference to be held in Sydney next week hosted by the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum.
The 15th PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference will be held from Dec 3-5 at Sydney’s Hilton Hotel.
Executive director Dr Albert Mellam said it was an ideal forum for potential investors to learn more about Papua New Guinea’s mining and petroleum industry.
“We are expecting in excess of 1300 delegates and over 50 exhibitors from resource and service companies, Government organisations, landowner groups, the international finance sector and aid organisations to attend our 2018 conference,” he said.
The event will feature prominent speakers from the PNG Government, mining and oil and gas companies.
Papua New Guinea has a well-established mining industry, attracting investments from many of the world’s leading mining companies.
Minerals currently being mined include gold, silver, copper and nickel. The country also has a long history of producing and exporting oil, and more recently liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Under the theme ‘PNG Resources Industry: Investment and Partnership to enable PNG’s Growth and Development’, the conference will once again showcase the exciting developments occurring in Papua New Guinea’s resources sector.
Speakers include Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, along with a number of Government ministers who will provide delegates with insights into the Government’s policies in areas such as energy and environmental protection.
Senior representatives from the country’s major petroleum and mining companies will provide updates on their current and proposed projects, new discoveries and exploration. The conference also offers an opportunity to reflect on the
recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, which was held in Port Moresby earlier this month.
An important project to be featured during the conference is the country’s upcoming Papua LNG project, of which a memorandum-of-understanding was signed by the project’s joint venture partners Oil Search, Total and ExxonMobil, and the Papua New Guinea Government during the summit.
The Wafi-Golpu project, a 50-50 joint venture project owned by Australian-owned Newcrest Mining and South African mining giant Harmony Gold, early works for which are expected to start in a few years, will be a main draw card for conference delegates.
Apec attracted world leaders and global chief executive officers to Papua New Guinea, including keynote speakers from leading resources industry companies operating in the country such as Newcrest Mining, Oil Search, Total and ExxonMobil.
The programme for the upcoming Sydney conference features an international guest speaker in Prof Paul Stevens, a distinguished fellow at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.
Stevens will be providing valuable insight into the global oil and gas market, focusing on the outlook for Papua New Guinea and its new developments.