Friday, August 07, 2009
InterOil announces June quarter profit
InterOil Corporation has announced a $US9.4-million operating profit for the quarter ending 30th. June 2009.
Chief Financial Officer Collin Visaggio says the result is “most encouraging” given the state of the world economy.
“Commodity prices eased during the period and this has had a negative effect on businesses such as ours.
“So to post a profit against this background is particularly satisfying”, he said.
“On this basis we are confident of a strong and vibrant future for all segments of our business.”
The company’s debt-to-capital ratio underwent a dramatic improvement during the quarter.
“It now stands at a very healthy 13%, compared to 43% in the same quarter of 2008”, Mr Visaggio said.
“This gives us a great base to work from and will help ensure our strength, particularly in these difficult economic times.”
InterOil’s midstream refining business segment posted a $US9.6-million profit for the period on a refinery throughput of 21,574 barrels per day (average).
The midstream liquefaction segment had a $US1.8-million loss which was InterOil’s share of expenses incurred in the PNG LNG joint venture project.
“These expenses are a necessary investment in the future of not only our company but also of the entire nation”, Mr Visaggio said.
Downstream (distribution) returned a $US1.7-million profit on a total sales volume of refined product of 140-million litres.
The downstream profit was about half that for the June quarter 2008 and reflected the worldwide decline in commodity prices.
For further information please contact
Susuve Laumaea
Senior Manager Media Relations InterOil Corporation
Ph: (675) 311 2796
Email: slaumaea@digicelpacific.blackberry.com
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Fuel prices fall for August
Retail fuel prices have fallen throughout
Gasoline and kerosene is more than five percent cheaper than it was last month and diesel is down four percent.
InterOil President Bill Jasper said the lower domestic prices reflect an easing in demand internationally.
“Again we see how local fuel prices are determined by the global market,” he said.
“This month there are two main factors at work.
“Firstly there has been an easing of demand in the
“Further, oil production and delivery from the rich Nigerian oil fields in
International crude oil prices have fluctuated during the month from around $US63 a barrel in the first half of the month to around $US72 of recent days.
“The fluctuations are between ten and fifteen percent over relatively short periods.
“This indicates the international marketplace is in a state of flux as the world begins showing signs that we may be emerging from the global financial crisis”, Mr. Jasper said.
“The price of crude oil and refined fuels has been on a wild rollercoaster ride for the past year.
“Just 12 months ago crude was selling for almost $US150 a barrel, it then collapsed in line with a slump in international demand.”
The reduction in domestic fuel prices this month comes despite an increase in crude oil prices.
Mr Jasper said that all refined fuels are currently “very affordable” by historic and international standards.
“And that, in these trying economic times, is positive and welcome news”.
For further information contact
Susuve Laumaea
Senior Manager Media Relations InterOil Corporation
Ph: (675) 311 2796
Email: slaumaea@digicelpacific.blackberry.com
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Kanua lashes out at NADP, DAL
THE National Government’s National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP) has come under fire at a development forum in Parliament today.
A number of speakers at the Consultative Implementation Monitoring Committee (CIMC) forum questioned where the funds for NADP in the last two years were and what the programme had achieved.
Former Department of Agriculture and Livestock Mathew Wela Kanua fired a broadside at the NADP as well as the Department of Agriculture and Livestock, which he formerly headed, saying that it should be abolished.
In a no-holds barred comment at the CIMC forum, Mr Kanua said it was the overwhelming feeling of the agriculture sector that it was getting nowhere, despite the massive K1 billion to be poured into the NADP over the next 10 years at K100 million annually.
Mr Kanua, who was outspoken in his fight against corruption at DAL during his tenure as secretary, also bluntly told the forum that the DAL should be abolished as it was unproductive.
“It is worrying and it is sad that we are getting nowhere,” Mr Kanua said.
“It seems to be an overwhelming concern from the agriculture sector that we are getting nowhere.
“What are we going to show for the K1 billion?
“What are we going to have in 10 years time to show for it?”
Mr Kanua, who is now employed by PNG Sustainable Development Program, said this money should be spent in partnership with the private sector to grow agriculture in PNG.
“That was the reason why we created the National Agriculture Development Plan,” he said.
“When I left the department, I said that it should be closed, because it was completely incapable.”
Australia-PNG Business Council president and Trukai Industries managing director Phil Franklin, who spoke at the forum, also spoke of PNG farmers not feeling the impact of the NADP.
“Farmers in PNG are like farmers anywhere in the world,” he said.
“They want to have money in their back pocket.”
He said the NADP was a very good concept which would combine government and private partners in developing the agriculture sector, but people are now wondering that had become of it.
Papua New Guinea coffee industry not stagnant
Coffee Industry Corporation chief executive officer Ricky Mitio says the industry in Papua New Guinea is “not stagnant and moving sideways”.
He said this after a presentation by PNG agriculture expert Dr Mike Bourke, who said in his presentation to the National Development Forum today that prospects for coffee in PNG were “poor to average”.
“We acknowledge that there is no growth in production trends,” Mr Mitio said.
“CIC’s strategic plan is to address the dilemma of growth stagnation by introducing high value specialty coffee as the way forward because of high returns on this specialty and organic coffee exports.
“Specialty coffee makes up 5-6% of the global market right now.
“The specialty market is just growing and PNG has to get on this bandwagon.” Picture above shows high quality PNG coffee products
Papua New Guinea agriculture must be a mixed bag
Agriculture in Papua New Guinea has a bright future, however, the agricultural mix will be different.
PNG agriculture also needs to be supported by high class research and development and it is important to build on current and past successes and to learn from the past.
An expert on PNG agriculture, Dr Mike Bourke (pictured) of the Australian National University, made these assessments at the National Development Forum at Parliament today while speaking on ‘Agriculture developments in PNG and future prospects’.
He said major tree crops such as coffee, cocoa and copra were facing assorted problems and PNG should diversify alternatives major crops.
For instance, in East New Britain, where the cocoa pod borer has affected production, Dr Bourke said ENB could diversify into alternatives such as balsa, galip nut, nutmeg, teak, vanilla, pepper, kava, cardamom and turmeric.
Best prospects for domestic markets are root crops, banana, fruit, edible nuts and vegetables; snack foods such as peanuts, cassava chips, banana chips, cooked galip and cooked karuka nut; betelnut and pepper; fish and livestock.
Best prospects for export markets are oil palm, hardwoods (teak, kwila, New Guinea walnut, Calophyllum, rosewood, ton); fast-growing timbers such as balsa; flowers, especially indigenous orchids; spices, as indigenous oils; and edible nuts such as galup, karuka, pao and talis.
Dr Bourke listed poor to average export prospects as coffee (high global supply), cocoa (cocoa pod borer), vanilla (quality), tea (only one company in PNG), rubber (dependent on price of oil) and copra (low prices and has to be exported as copra oil).
Very poor prospects included grains for domestic market including rice, wheat, maize and sorghum; pulses such as soyabean and green gram; robusta coffee, pyrethrum, fresh food exports and canned food for domestic market.
Dr Bourke later said: “The prospects for coffee are only moderately good.
“The reason has to do with the high supply on the world market, especially from Vietnam and Brazil.
“The concern here is that there are very few alternatives to coffee in the Highlands.
“Coffee needs to be supported but we need to be realistic about the prices.
“The cocoa industry has grown quite steadily, particularly on East New Britain and Bouganville,
“These two provinces produce 75% of PNG’s of PNG’s export and 8 or 9% from East Sepik and Madang.
“Production was around 50, 000 tonnes last year.
“The big issue with cocoa is cocoa pod borer.
“The insect is present in East New Britain, East Sepik and Madang, not on Bouganville yet as far as we know.
“This is having a social impact, for example, people can’t afford to pay school fees for their children.
“When it comes to Bouganville, it’s going to have a big effect as well.
“As for copra, prices are very poor.
“The world market for copra itself is very low.
“The market is now for copra oil.
“For example, in Europe, they do not import copra now, they import copra oil.
“The market for copra is okay, but only just okay.
“You can only make money from copra if you are near a buying point, for example, Buka, Taboi, Namatanai, Duke of York and Madang.
“But for remote locations, for example Tabar Island, if there’s no buying point you can’t make money.”
Economies sitting on untapped potential, says UN Under-Secretary-General
While women have emerged as what she calls the flexible labour force par excellence, “their entry into the workplace has also coincided with trends towards outsourcing and subcontracting; relegating women’s jobs to the informal sector without any job security or benefits. The inherent risks of this positioning are now becoming apparent as the economic crisis unfolds.”
According to estimates from the International Labour Organisation, an additional 9 million women in the region will become unemployed in 2009, bringing the total number of unemployed women to an approximate 38 million this year.
And while there are signs of early economic recovery, she says, experience shows that real wages take an average of three years to recover and employment growth does not return to pre-crisis levels for several years after that. In developing economies – and in spite of the robust gains of recent years – important gains made over the last ten years could effectively be undone.
Still, the news is not all bad, insists Heyzer, who believes the crisis can be used as an opportunity, deeming the APEC region “the epicentre of economic growth.”
According to ESCAP research, she says, “our [APEC] region loses between USD 42 and 47 billion dollars a year by restricting women’s access to employment” and “up to USD 17 billion dollars a year are lost in the region due to gender gaps in education.”
For most economies in the Asia-Pacific, women are an untapped resource and, conversely, represent potential for economic recovery and growth.
This, she says, can be achieved through gender sensitive fiscal stimulus packages; promotion of intra-regional trade; improved access of girls and women to education and training; increased corporate social responsibility and commitment to equitable pay.
Read Dr. Heyzer’s entire speech at:
http://www.apec.org/apec/news___media/speeches/050809_wln_heyzer.html
For more information, contact:
Carolyn Williams at cdw@apec.org or at (65) 9617 7316
Anita Douglas at ad@apec.org or at (65) 9172 6427
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