Total SA flying KPHL workers overseas for two-year training

By Lemach Lavari
Two senior employees from Kumul Petroleum Holdings Ltd (KPHL) will join Total SA temporarily for job training in Paris, according to managing director Wapu Sonk.
Sonk said the employees would be part of KPHL and Total SA’s marketing joint venture company.
The employees are senior legal officer Mathilda Namorong and senior petroleum engineer Ephraim Tammy.
“The employees will be on secondment with Total SA for two years,” Sonk said.
“They will initially be based in Paris for three months on job training and then move to Singapore.”
Sonk said another KPHL employee was currently with ExxonMobil in Singapore working in LNG marketing.
Total’s PNG managing director, Philippe Blanchard said both employees would receive training at its head office and learn of Total’s operations.
“Matilda and Ephraim will be a key element of the joint venture and be at the forefront of selling the gas,” he said.
Blanchard said partnering with KPHL would indicate to the world market that PNG was a very-reliable source of LNG.
KPHL and Total signed an agreement in February for joint marketing and sale of their shares of LNG and condensates.
These will be produced from the Elk/Antelope field as part of the Papua LNG Project.
According to Sonk, in the PNG LNG Project the LNG was jointly marketed, which meant all joint venture partners gave their marketing rights to ExxonMobil to market LNG.
He said for the Papua LNG Project, it would be equity marketed, which meant partners would market their share of production.
“Total and Kumul, with MRDC, have agreed to jointly market our share,” Sonk said.
“Other partners will do their own marketing”
“The PNG LNG expansion is also likely to go down that same trend of equity marketing.
“This time PNG will be able to market its own LNG.”