Energy
From The Report: Papua New Guinea 2020
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Papua New Guinea’s development has been driven by its resource wealth and, while policymakers are focused on long-term diversification, extractive industries still underpin the economy. Since his election, Prime Minister James Marape has made clear his intention to secure greater revenue for the government from future extractive projects, with the aim of nurturing economic growth and investing in human capital development. As such, his first year in office has seen protracted negotiations on major new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, including the $13bn Total-led Papua LNG project and the expansion of the P’nyang gas field. In terms of power, meanwhile, there is political will and international support to help PNG reach its goal of 70% electrification by 2030. However, creativity will be needed to mitigate the challenges presented by the country’s difficult terrain, low population density, complex land rights framework and lack of spending power in rural communities. This chapter contains an interview with Kieran Wulff, Managing Director, Oil Search.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Extracting benefits: The country’s low electrification rate and wealth of natural resources offer significant opportunities for investment
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Papua New Guinea’s economic development has long been underpinned by its resource wealth, but a change in government in May 2019 has created fresh momentum for diversification. Since his election, Prime Minister James Marape has made clear his intention to secure greater revenue for the government from future extractive projects, with the aim of nurturing economic growth and investing in human capital development. As such, his first year in office has seen protracted negotiations on major…

Interview

Steady hand: Keiran Wulff, Managing Director, Oil Search, on steering the hydrocarbons industry through the global Covid-19 crisis
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Interview:Keiran Wulff In what ways has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted business operations in Papua New Guinea? KEIRAN WULFF: Like most companies in the oil and gas sector, the pandemic forced us to quickly review all areas of business, particularly our cost base. These included the capital programmes we had planned for 2020, our approach to supporting production operations and our management of labour-intensive field activities. Our priority has been to ensure the welfare and safety of…

Analysis

In the pipeline: Negotiations continue on two new liquefied natural gas projects as the government seeks to maximise their benefits
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Papua New Guinea first started producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) in April 2014 when the flagship $19bn PNG LNG project came on-line months ahead of schedule. With the project exceeding export expectations, the focus has now shifted to two new projects, which would more than double the country’s LNG production capacity if they come to fruition. However, as the government is determined to reap more economic and social benefits from resource projects than ever before, as of June 2020 an…