Thoughts on LNG project

I SHARE my thoughts on some issues which I think are important to all Western people and I wish to ask some questions of the governor, the three Open members, PEC members and the Fly River provincial government.
Has the PEC and Fly River provincial government made their positions known to GoPNG on the location of the proposed Western LNG (WLNG) project?
The project, as I am aware, is projected to start in the next five years (i.e. construction to conclusion and commissioning of the LNG processing facilities offshore near Daru).
There is a general feeling in Western that the project should be based in the province.
Has the Fly River provincial government thought about helping the affected landowners within the project corridor (upstream, midstream and downstream) in terms of landowner identification and social mapping to comply with section 169 of the PNG Oil and Gas Act 1998?
What plans does the Fly River provincial government have, if any, in terms of holding a landowners’ benefit forum (in consultation with DPE) to address and seek the views of the landowners and LLGs on how they will and can benefit from the project?
Is the governor able to provide a likely timeframe for the holding of a project development and benefit forum to comply with sections 170 to 178 of the PNG Oil and Gas Act 1998?
Do we know how much gas and oil reserves there are in each field or will it be easier to integrate those stranded fields if the licence blocks are held by different companies?
Fly River provincial government please tell us which fields are ready to underpin this WLNG so the landowners can start dialogue.
Time is of the essence and time is running out.
All the above issues I have highlighted should be addressed as a pre-requisite to officially sanctioning the WLNG Project.
However, the much talked-about WLNG may not eventuate because the fields may not be economically viable just yet.
The benefits may not be forthcoming and we would be in a queue, just like our friends in Southern Highlands.
I suggest that the strategic pipeline run from P’nyang to CPF at Kutubu or via Papua LNG so all our stranded gas fields can connect to the main pipeline.
The landowners have not been benefiting from Ok Tedi and we will continue to push for
the LNG project to start immediately.
Our elected members should know that some landowners are not supporting the proposed WLNG or any other developer for that matter, but are on neutral grounds as customary landowners.
We will tap into whichever developer comes in.

Tumsep Waram manlap
Pikinini Western