Petromin assets split up

Source: The National, Monday, April 8, 2013

By MALUM NALU

Petromin PNG Holdings Ltd, and the Independent Public Business Corporation (IPBC) will be wound up and their assets and interest transferred to new Kumul entities to be set up, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill announced last Friday.

“All mining assets and interests for the state will be transferred to a new entity known as Kumul Mining Holding Ltd (KMHL),” he said.

O’Neill making a point at last Friday’s press conference where he announced the restructure.-Nationalpic by MALUM NALU

“This includes the state’s interests in Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL), Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML), and the state’s interest in Ramu Nickel project, currently held by Mineral Resources Development Corporation (MRDC).

“Also to be transferred to KMHL are the State’s interests in Tolukuma Mines, which are currently held by Petromin.

“All petroleum asset and interests owned by the State will be transferred to an entity known as Kumul Petroleum Holding Ltd (KPHL).

“This include the state’s interest (16.575%) in the PNG LNG project currently held by Kroton, a subsidiary of IPBC; 0.2% interest in the PNG LNG project held through a Petromin subsidiary called Kumul LNG Ltd, the state’s interest in Eda Oil currently held by Petromin, and exploration licences and other assets/interests held by Petromin.

“The IPBC will be wound up and all the state owned enterprises will be transferred to a new entity called Kumul Corporation Holding Ltd.”

Restructure of all the state’s investment in petroleum and mining assets, and the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the country, follows a decision by the national executive council (NEC) last fortnight to restructure and consolidate investment by the state in petroleum and mining ventures, and all the SOEs.

O’Neill said the restructure was a major decision by government to provide more transparency and accountability, and more focus in the way the state’s investment in mining and petroleum assets, and SOEs, were managed.

He said the restructure and consolidation of these state-owned assets were necessary to remove inefficiencies, and duplication and overlapping of participation.

“Through this restructure we are creating a commercial framework that is cohesive and focused.

“It will result in efficiency that will maximise benefits that will flow to the State.”

O’Neill said Petromin was a good example of what was tested globally by oil and gas majors, found wanting, and discarded.

“Oil Search shed mineral assets in Porgera gold mine to concentrate on oil and, and look at where it is now,” he said.

“Petromin bought into Tolukuma Gold mine in 2008, but continues to make a loss from this venture.

“Its total losses (in sales) stood at K45 million as at Dec 2012.

“The state’s position is not made any better with duplication and overlapping of participation in the PNG LNG project, with Kroton holding 16.57% in the project, while Petromin holds 0.2%, both for the state.

“This is not only confusing, but it also creates an environment for Kroton and Petromin to compete for nomination which is undesirable.”

Father, son flying high

Source: The National, Monday, April 8, 2013

Narara family continues to make PNG aviation history

By MALUM NALU

When the wheels of the Etihad Airways Airbus A330 Flight 055 lifted off the ground in Abu Dhabi bound for Brussels on March 30, 2013, another milestone in Papua New Guinea aviation history was made.

At the controls of Flight 055 was Captain Granger Narara, of Dobu Island, Milne Bay,  and his co-pilot was none other than his oldest son, Nigel Narara. 

Proud moment...Captain Granger Narara and his co-pilot, oldest son Nigel Narara, inside the Etihad Airways Airbus A330 cockpit before flying from Abu Dhabi to Brussels on March 30.-Picture courtesy of GRANGER NARARA

This is the first time that a PNG father and son team was in control of an international airliner and a great achievement for PNG aviation and the Narara family.

Granger’s younger brother, Captain Tico Narara, is the first Papua New Guinean in command of the Airbus A380, the biggest commercial airliner in the world, for Emirates Airlines.

Nigel first went to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as a seven-year-old child in 1991, when his father left Air Niugini to work with Emirates Airlines as an A310 captain.

Nigel completed all his primary and secondary education in the UAE and went on to Embry Riddle Aeronautical College in Prescott, Arizona, USA in 2001 to do a degree in aeronautical science, until the events of Sept 11, 2001 put an end to those dreams.

He then transferred to the Royal Queensland Aero Club at Archerfield in Brisbane in 2003 where he completed his commercial pilot’s license and instrument rating.

He started his flying career with Airlines PNG, where he worked from 2004 – 2006, flying the Twin Otter based in Port Moresby and Kairik.

In 2007, Nigel was able to secure a job as a cadet first officer with Air Arabia, a low cost airline based in the UAE, flying the Airbus A320 on a regional network,   until Aug 2012 when he was employed by Etihad as a first officer on the Airbus A330.

“This is the highlight of my 36 year flying career, being able to fly with my son”, Narara said.

“An achievement like this is a great way to tell the world that PNG can and does produce some of the best aviators in the world, something that we as a nation can all be proud of/

“This success is also being replicated in many other top notch professions, notably in the international oil and mining sector where the number of PNG professionals around the planet is increasing.

“We can be very proud that as a small nation we are able to produce pilots, engineers, oil and gas operators and many other professionals that can stand up and be counted amongst the best in the world.”

Nigel said: “I have always wanted to fly with Dad, he wasn’t as hard a captain as I thought he would be.”  

His mother,  Regie, , said: “ Nigel was destined to be a pilot since he was a baby and has always dreamt of flying with his father, so this is a dream come true”. 

Nigel’s two-year-old son Kingston, the next generation of Narara flyers, was also there to greet his dad and bubu (grandfather).

Oil Search tips PNG LNG start-up in 2014

By Kim Christian

AAP

Oil Search's liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea remains on track to deliver its first gas sales next year, despite overall costs blowing out to $US19 billion.
Oil Search, Australia's third-largest oil and gas producer, said the PNG LNG project would allow the company to quadruple its production base in the first full year of operation.
The company says the project is more than 75 per cent complete, with first LNG sales due to begin in 2014.
However, Oil Search estimates the total project cost increased from $US15.7 billion to $US19 billion ($A15.12 billion to $A18.29 billion) in 2012.

The company blamed exchange rate movements as the largest component of the cost increase.
"While the increase in costs is disappointing and, unfortunately, a feature of the current LNG project construction environment, PNG LNG project economics remain attractive," Oil Search chairman Brian Horwood said in the company's annual report.
The project's economics had been helped by a five per cent increase in project capacity, from 6.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 6.9 MTPA, while commodity prices were around 30 per cent higher than previously assumed.
Oil Search says the LNG project is the largest development yet undertaken in PNG.
The company said 2013 would be a year of transition for the project as it moved from heavy construction to equipment and systems installation and commissioning.
The Komo airfield, associated gas facilities and the onshore pipeline to the Hides gas field in the Southern Highlands Province were all expected to be completed this year.
The company plans to finalise tanker availability and is co-ordinating with customers for offtake to start in 2014.
Forecast production of between 6.2 million and 6.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in 2013 remains on track, compared to 6.4mmboe in 2012.
The annual report showed managing director Peter Botten earned a total of $US4.9 million in 2012, up from $US4.4 million in 2011.
The company said it was pursuing international growth opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa, including the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and Tunisia and Yemen.
Oil Search in February reported a net profit of $US175.8 million ($A171.4 million) for the six months to December 31, down from $US202.5 million in the previous corresponding period.

Bakani: Economy outlook promising

Source: The National, Thursday, April 4, 2013 

 

By MALUM NALU

CENTRAL Bank Governor Loi Bakani on Wednesday painted a rosy picture of PNG’s economy despite projections for growth to slow down from 9.2% to 4% this year.
He told The National, after addressing a Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry breakfast at the Royal Papua Yacht Club, that there was potential for the economy to grow even more if government fiscal stimulus packages were implemented.

CENTRAL Bank Governor Loi Bakani

He would not say what kind of stimulus packages was needed.
“In 2013, we expect the economy to grow by 4%, down from 9.2% last year, but again, 4% is still a very healthy growth this year,” he said.
“The slowdown is because of the phasing out of the LNG project, and the low commodity prices that are affecting some of our exporters.
“These two are the major ones affecting the slowing down of economic growth in Papua New Guinea, but the upside is that if the government pursues and implements the budget properly, it can offset what has slowed down as a result of LNG construction phasing out and low commodity prices.”
Bakani was unfazed by the slowing down of the economy this year.
“The economy is going very well at the moment,” he said.
“There’s potential for it to pick up even more strongly if government fiscal stimulus for the budget is implemented, rather than not being fully utilised in trust accounts or government accounts.
“It really comes down to government at national, provincial and local level
government level.
“We’re pretty much good at the moment, the economy is in good hands.
“Government is doing the right thing, focusing on rural areas and districts.”
Bakani also said that given the current high liquidity levels in PNG, and the K2.5 billion deficit, there really was no need to source funding from overseas.
“Given the high level of liquidity in Papua New Guinea, the government can rely on the domestic system to fund the deficit,” he said.
“It does not need to go overseas to international capital markets.
“If it needs to go to international capital markets, it’s forgetting some benchmark interest rates that the government can use.
“Like, for instance, the state-owned entities, if they want to go overseas to borrow, they can use that as a benchmark rate to go and borrow overseas.
“For 2013, the deficit can be funded domestically because of the high levels of liquidity we have in the system.”

WWII pilot 1st Lt. John E. Terpning buried at Arlington National Cemetery

WUSA9.com

ARLINGTON, Va. (WUSA) -- The remains of a missing World War II pilot, which were recently identified, have been buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday.




1st Lt. John E. Terpning is laid to rest


According to the U.S. Army, 1st Lt. John E. Terpning and 9 other men disappeared when their plane went down in May of 1944. In 1973, the wreckage and some remains were found in the mountains northeast of Lae, New Guinea, but the remains could not be identified. Decades later, scientists were able to determine that the remains were those of Terpning, who was a pilot of the B-24D Liberator aircraft.

Army officials say on May 7, 1944, 1st Lt. Terpning, of Mount Prospect, Ill., was the pilot of the plane that departed Nadzab, New Guinea on a bombing mission. There were mechanical troubles that delayed the departure with other planes, say officials, and no one saw the plane takeoff. Two years later, the War Department declared the men to be presumed dead, according to Army officials.

Then, in 1973, a Papua New Guinea Forest Department official said a wartime aircraft was seen in the mountains northeast of the city of Lae. A team of Royal Australian Air Force members visited the site, say officials, and found wreckage believed to be a B-24D. The team also recovered possible human remains and they were transferred to the U.S. Army Mortuary in Tachikawa, Japan. The technology at the time provided no way of individually identifying the remains so they were buried as a group in 1974 at Arlington National Cemetery, according to Army officials.

Finally, in April 2008, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command team investigated at the crash site and recovered aircraft wreckage and additional remains, including a radio call sign data plate that matched the aircraft, say Army officials. Scientists then used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification technology to identify Terpning's remains.

At 9 a.m. on April 3, 2013, a burial service was held for 1st Lt. Terpning.

ICT expert: Internet prices may not drop

Source: The National, Wednesday, April 3,  2013

By MALUM NALU

INTERNET expert and former Telikom acting chief executive officer Noel Mobiha says there is no guarantee that internet rates will be going down, despite Telikom reducing wholesale charges by 68%.
Mobiha, a former University of Technology academic who was the first administrator for the PNG internet names registry and one of a handful of people responsible for the introduction of Internet, said it was very encouraging to hear of Telikom board chairman Mahesh Patel and CEO Charles Litau’s immediate response to drop the price by 68% – from 9t to 3t per megabyte (MB).

 Noel Mobiha

However, he added, this did not mean that users would necessarily be paying lower prices to Internet service providers (ISPs).
“It is similar to paying for water that is consumed in a house as metred by the water metre,” Mobiha explained, “or similar to paying for power as per the EsiPay power metre.
“Now, with the new rate of 3t, ISPs will be paying a lease price for a pipe size (bandwidth) connecting them and Telikom PNG.
“The issue here is: What is the condition of that contract for the bandwidth lease?
“If the lease is for a bandwidth that is going to be utilised 100% of the time, then the ISPs and subsequently the users will be the losers on this deal as they will be paying more.
“How is this so, one may ask?
“This is because statistically the ISPs download pattern averages around 30% from Telikom in a month.
“If Telikom does not consider the download patterns of the ISPs and imposes a 100% price for a bandwidth that is 30% utilised, simple math would show that the new cost would be closer to 10t per megabyte.
“This would be more expensive than what it is right now at 9t per MB.
“If, however, Telikom charges an allocated bandwidth at an utilisation factor of 30% range with an upgrade option once reached, then the rates would be as announced of 3t per MB as wholesale to the ISPs, resulting in a much cheaper rate to the end users.
“It is also important that ISPs must reflect the savings to the end users.”
Mobiha said Patel, the board, Litau and Telikom management knew that there were technical and economic issues that need addressing within Telikom.
“These issues, which are internal, must be addressed immediately so that it will improve service delivery, significantly increase speed of internet to users in PNG and subsequently give Telikom the savings to reduce costs even further,” he said.
Mobiha, who has held several key telecommunications positions since leaving Unitech in 2002, is now a freelance ICT consultant.

Steamships posts K296 million profit

Source: The National, Tuesday, April 2, 2013 

 

By MALUM NALU

STEAMSHIPS Trading Company Ltd posted an operating profit of K296.5 million last year, up from K265.1 million in 2011, according to its 2012 annual report presented to the Port Moresby Stock Exchange last Thursday.
The group had total revenue of K986. 31 million last year, up from K920.357 million in 2011.
Profit before tax worked out to K279.76 million, up from K247.82 million in 2011.
Profit from continuing operations was K198.34 million (K180 million in 2011), and the group operating profit for the year attributable to shareholders was K177.7 million (K158.26 million in 2011).
“The directors advised that a final dividend of 170 toea per share will be paid immediately after the annual general meeting on May 14, 2013,” the report said.
“The exchange rate kina to Australian dollar applying on May 1, 2013, will be used to calculate the dividends to shareholders resident outside Papua New Guinea.”
Subsidiaries of Steamships are Consort Express Lines, Datec, Kavieng Port Services, Kiunga Stevedoring Company, Lae Port Services, Laga Industries, Madang Port Services, Middle Fly Shipping, New Britain Shipping, Oro Agencies, Pacific Rumana, Pacific Rumana Mobile Investments, PNG Link, Port Services PNG, Steamships Ltd, and Windward Apartments.
Major events for the company so far this year include:
•    Steamships Shipping Agencies was transferred to China Navigation Company using the global brand name Swire Shipping Agencies on January 1;
•    Directors on Feb 26, 2013, declared a final dividend of 170t per share to be paid immediately after the May 14 annual general meeting. The gross dividend of K52.7 million has been recognised as a separate component of equity; and
•    On March 1, New Britain Shipping acquired the trade and net assets of Kimbe Shipping and Transport for K18 million.

PNG government to take charge of OK Tedi funds

By EION BLACKWELL

AAP PNG Correspondent

THE government of Papua New Guinea will restructure the management of the Ok Tedi copper mine to ensure its funds are managed in PNG and not in Singapore, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says.

In a two-page article written by the PM in Port Moresby's daily newspapers on Tuesday, Mr O'Neill vowed to end what he termed "secret arrangements" between the mine's former owner, BHP Billiton, and the PNG Sustainable Development Project.

The government of Papua New Guinea will restructure the management of the Ok Tedi copper mine.

The PNGSDP was created by BHP in 2002 to manage OK Tedi's profits on behalf of the people of Western Province, following massive environmental damage caused by the mine.
OK Tedi's mining lease expires at the end of 2013.
"When the lease expires, the national government will put in place management arrangements that end any secret arrangements, and ensure that the people of Papua New Guinea, including the local landowners, have a say in the mine's future and its management," Mr O'Neill said.
"We will ensure the PNGSDP is managed in Papua New Guinea, and its funds are held in Papua New Guinea, and used transparently for the good of the people of the Fly River Province, and the nation generally."
The $US1.4 billion ($A1.35 billion) PNGSDP fund is currently held in Singapore, where the company is registered.
Mr O'Neill wrote the article in response to a Fairfax newspaper column last week which described the PNGSDP as "by far the biggest act of corporate philanthropy in Australian history".
BHP had nothing to be proud of, Mr O'Neill said.
"Nor can BHP be proud of its majority ownership and managerial control prior to 2002 when it divested itself of its majority shareholding, and pretended - and I use the word advisedly - to end its control over the mine," he said.
"The establishment of the PNGSDP was designed by BHP to keep control of the mine, and the direction of its profits, principally through the PNGSDP, over which it clearly exercised effective control."
Mr O'Neill said past claims by BHP that it had no say in running OK Tedi and the PNGSDP were untrue and that the company held effective control over the mine "through a myriad structures".
In 2010 the OK Tedi mine was the largest single contributor to PNG's tax revenues, to the tune of $US543 million.
In November, former chairman and noted economist Ross Garnaut resigned from the PNGSDP and was replaced by former prime minister Mekere Morauta.
Professor Garnaut was also banned from PNG by Mr O'Neill after he implied publicly that the government would not use the fund's money wisely.
BHP announced in September last year it planned to no longer appoint board members to the PNGSDP.
Future directors would be chosen by the board, which also includes PNG government nominees.
However, it is understood BHP must agree to any changes in the core terms of reference under which the trust operates.
PNG's national government and the provincial government of Western Province jointly own a 36.6 per cent share of OK Tedi, while the PNGSDP currently holds a 63.4 per cent stake.
Both the PNGSDP and BHP have declined to comment.

Kristian Laslett and fried chicken franchises selling left-wings

By JOHN FOWKE

Dr Kristian Lasslett (pictured)  is a lecturer in criminology at the
University of Ulster.

He has spent almost a decade researching the war in
Bougainville.

His work has featured in leading international journals and
a book on Bougainville is forthcoming via Pluto Press.

So one supposes that he is a member of the familiar band of
disparate, self-interested, reputation-building academics who are often
characterised as "Pacific Specialists" within the often ill-informed
army of similar "expert" commentators.

People who make reputations and often much money from
visiting, designing "aid" projects and programs for, and writing about,
third-world nations.

These lands are always portrayed as being damaged by the
colonial and post-colonial experience vis-a-vis the baddies who constitute the
exploitative element of the (sorry about our wealth, generosity and relevant
experience) awful, shameful, unrepentant first-world.

This group, metaphorically-speaking, is a self-promoting
fried chicken franchise selling left-wings and arse-holes instead of wholesome,
nourishing food.

They have a very hard time showing any evidence that their
efforts have produced results of any sort, let alone positive ones.

PS: 
Are you married into Bougainville, Mr Lasslett? Or have you plans to live there? What inspires such as you, an academic from the other side of the world, to dig deeply into the history of the Bougainville conflict? A history with which all in PNG, and all its friends, are only too well acquainted.
Do please tell us why you do what you do. You're too smart to be a simple humanist bleeding-heart. What’s in all this research for you - or for anyone in PNG?
But, in fact don't bother; just turn your attentions to the tribal travesties committed on both sides in Ireland, your apparent alma mater. Or perhaps your homeland?
A sad little country steeped in religious bigotry and alcohol as sops to the effects of really brutal colonialism, mass land theft, and ecclesiastical hatred begun several centuries ago.
This makes much more sense for the likes of you. Think of the audience, and the sales. PNG-based books don't command any notice at all in the market.
Ecclesiastically-inspired tribal killings, rapes and torture. All you need, mate, back in old Ireland. Perhaps profitably to persist at length with your penchant for morbid pedantry.
Lastly, you may be sure I am not be alone in taking great exception to the calumny you heap upon the head of Rabbie Namaliu.

Origins of PNG Forest Products

By MALUM NALU

PNG Forest Products evolved from Bulolo Gold Dredging (BGD) Ltd, a mining company that commenced mining operations in Bulolo in 1932. 

Bulolo Airport, which is maintained by PNGFP.-Nationalpics by MALUM NALU

BGD was owned by Placer and it operated seven dredges in what was then the world’s largest gold field.

In 1952 Commonwealth New Guinea Timbers was established to produce plywood from large natural stands of Klinkii and Hoop Pine surrounding the Bulolo valley. 

Downstream processing of plywood in the PNGFP plymill.

Commonwealth New Guinea Timbers (CNGT) shareholding at the formation of the company was 50% owned by the Australian Commonwealth government and 50% by Placer.

In 1980, CNGT changed its name to PNG Forest Products.

The shareholding has changed over time, and today, IB Holdings from Singapore retains 80% and the PNG government 20%.

Through the activities of BGD, CNGT and PNGFP, Bulolo has been a major centre of economic activity and rural employment for the past 80 years.

During this period Bulolo has always had a full range of supporting activities including an airport, retail stores, bakery, butchery, farm and recreational facilities including a swimming pool, tennis courts, golf club, bowls club and several sports fields. 

 

Bulolo golf course…owned by PNGFP and pretty as a picture.

Previously, Bulolo also had two picture theatres, which became redundant with the arrival of videos.

Today PNG Forest Products is a large and diversified company employing 1,700 people.

“PNGFP’s timber is sourced from sustainable pine plantations in the Bulolo and Wau area,” says managing director Tony Honey.

“These plantations are managed by PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA) and harvesting is carried out by PNGFP. 

Pine logs ready to be turned into plywood.

“The plantations were established in the 1950s and cover an area of approximately 10,000ha.

“The majority of the timber in the plantations is Hoop and Klinkii Pine which are native to the area.

“PNGFP intends to establish its own plantation in the next few years to increase the plantation area by a further 5,000 hectares.

“This will ensure the business can expand into the future in a sustainable manner.

“In addition, PNGFP generates its own power from two hydro power stations at Baiune to supply its manufacturing facilities, commercial and residential areas.

“The combination of a sustainable timber resource which is processed with the use of sustainable hydro power makes PNGFP’s processed timber products truly and uniquely green.”

Honey says PNGFP employment figures have grown substantially in recent years and it is envisaged the number of employees will continue to increase into the future in both existing activities and new activities which are now in various stages of development.

Processed plywood at PNGFP Bulolo.

“In addition to the 1,700 people directly employed by PNGFP the National Forest Service at Bulolo employs a further 200 people to manage the Bulolo/Wau pine plantations in support of PNGFP,” he said.

“PNGFP implemented a training programme for its work force in the 1970s and this has now operated continually for over 35 years, training apprentices and cadets in a wide range of trades and disciplines.

“Trades people, supervisors and managers who had their training in Bulolo can be found all over PNG.

“It is estimated PNGFP has trained over 1000 apprentices and cadets in that period.

“PNGFP takes pride in the support it provides its employees with both formal training and informal training in the work place. 

Proudly PNG-Made PNGFP products ready to be exported.

“The benefit of this training is demonstrated by the small turnover of our work force.

“PNGFP has a loyal and committed workforce who comprise approximately 97% Papua New Guinea nationals and 3% expatriate staff.

“A unique feature of our workforce is the number of long-term employees we have, many national and expatriate employees have been with the company for over 30 years.

“This is quite an achievement and obviously contributes to the stability and success of our company.”