Western Province Governor has called for the aggregation of all stranded gas resources in his province.
This is a clear rebuke to Exxon JV partners (inc OSH and STO) stated intention to develop the P'nyang Field as a stand alone rather than part of an aggregation project. His reference to the PNG LNG project being a mistake is anther slap down of the JV partners in the wake of the Jubilee Report and the IMF's opinion that PNG gave too many concessions away and is not reaping fair returns on the highly profitable PNG LNG project. The political tide is now firmly against the JV partners who will be expected to make up for revenue losses in any future development or find themselves blocked. The JV partners responded to PNG Cabinet's P'nyang demands by putting the P'nyang Field development on the back burner, further inflaming negative sentiment in PNG. PNG cabinet's frustration was also evident recently in the 'cancelling' of PDL10's licence, home of the Stanley world class but stranded gas field. It was quickly reversed as cabinet planned it would be, but sent a message nevertheless that stranded fields must be developed. In PNG media lately cabinet has been reiterating that both pipelines and processing plants must be shared with third parties, ie the PNG LNG infrastructure must be provided to a third party at a fair price. imo OSH are the hapless partner in all this, Exxon is calling the shots in a manner that is purely self interested. For OSH and STO development is also seen as important, in line with the broader Australian view that PNG is a close neighbour. Botten needs to stand up and take a developmental stance with an equitable share of the vast PNG LNG profits going to the people of PNG. He also needs to heed the demand for stranded western province gas resources to be commercialised because this province is one of the most impoverished in the country. Political stability and a positive sentiment towards companies exploiting PNG's vast LNG resources ensures a secure and profitable future for OSH and STO.
