Violence and landslides block aid access to Papua New Guinea quake victims

reuters.com | April 12, 2018

Violence rooted in tribalism and frustration at the slow response following earthquakes in Papua New Guinea was blocking efforts to reach those in need, aid workers said on Thursday.

Three tremblors have hit Papua New Guinea, one of the world’s poorest countries, since the remote, mountainous highlands region was rocked by a magnitude 7.5 quake on Feb. 26. The latest, a magnitude 6.3 aftershock, struck on April 7.

At least 132 people have been killed, 500 injured and about 43,000 uprooted from their homes, while 270,000 are urgently in need of assistance, aid agencies said, with the scale of the emergency testing the nation’s finances and capacity.

The United Nations and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) said they had to withdraw teams from the Hela provincial capital of Tari after violence erupted on March 28.

“There were houses set on fire and some people were murdered in Tari,” said Robyn Drysdale, a doctor and deputy humanitarian director with IPPF.

“It just means aid will be slowed even further, because aid workers won’t want to go into those areas,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from the capital, Port Moresby.

A spokesman for the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, said the situation in Tari was still tense and staff have remained in the Southern Highlands provincial capital of Mendi, where they were relocated.

In another incident on April 7, a group of men attacked a UNICEF convoy that was returning to Mendi after visiting health facilities in the Southern Highlands district of Nipa-Kutubu, said David McLoughlin, the agency’s country representative.

“We know the marauders do not represent the PNG people who have been kind, helpful and grateful for our assistance,” he said by email, adding that UNICEF “will continue to stay in the highlands to help children in need”.

Drysdale said some people were frustrated with the slow delivery of aid, which was hampered by landslide damage to many of the roads in the mountainous region, which were already in poor condition.

She said tensions were also inflamed by long-running tribal rivalries over rights to land and resources, and payments made to groups by companies exploring for oil on traditional land.

The World Health Organisation has warned of “the high potential of waterborne and vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks” in quake-affected areas.

Quakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

Key gas field for PNG LNG expansion gets huge resource upgrade

platts.com | April 12, 2018

Papua New Guinea's PNG LNG has had a huge increase in upstream gas resources, which will support the plan to almost double the facility's export capacity, project participant Oil Search said Thursday.

The gas resources increase is in the P'nyang field in PRL 3, where Oil Search has 38.51% stake, resulting in 1C gross contingent gas resources more than tripling to 3.51 Tcf, and certified 2C contingent gas resources rising to 4.36 Tcf, Oil Search said.

"Combined with gas resources in the Elk-Antelope fields in PRL 15, Oil Search believes there is now approximately 11 Tcf of certified gross undeveloped 2C gas resource available to support the proposed development of 8 [million mt/year] of additional, globally competitive LNG capacity at the existing PNG LNG plant site," Oil Search managing-director Peter Botten said.

"Importantly, there is in excess of 8 Tcf of 1C resource, which will greatly assist marketing activities within each venture."

Oil Search holds a 29 per cent interest in PNG LNG, along with operator ExxonMobil (33.2 per cent), Santos (13.5 per cent), Kumul Petroleum Holdings (16.8 per cent), JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Company (4.7 per cent) and Mineral Resources Development  Company (2.8 per cent).

PNG LNG currently has a nameplate capacity of 6.9 million mt/year but consistently operates above it. In December, it averaged 8.6 million mt/year and is expected to be able to maintain rates above 8.5 million mt/year when operational.

RESTART BY EARLY MAY

PNG LNG was forced to close on February 26 due to a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in the PNG Highlands.

An ExxonMobil spokeswoman said Thursday that the projection gave on March 5 that it would take approximately eight weeks to complete repairs and restore production remains on track. Roughly eight weeks from March 5 will take the restart to the end of April or start of May. It may take some time to ramp back up to full production rates.

Oil Search said Thursday that ongoing discussions are taking place between the joint venture partners as well as the PNG government on the preferred development concept for LNG expansion, which proposes one new train underpinned by gas from P'nyang and the PNG LNG project fields, and two trains dedicated to Papua LNG, supplied with gas from the Elk-Antelope fields.

"The joint ventures are targeting entry into front end engineering and design on this expansion in the second half of 2018," Botten said.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Ben Wilson said the question for the JV parties and what will likely ultimately determine the value of the additional resource will be the timing when the additional gas from P'nyang gets developed.

"P'nyang is currently the furthest gas from Hides along the Hides to P'nyang trend and would require longer pipelines and more capex to be developed," he said.

The JV parties will likely be looking to develop gas in an order that is closer and hence cheaper to Hides, he said.

"There is still a chance that gas from Muruk will usurp P'nyang in the order of development with further drilling at Muruk-2 later this year that should firm up that resource size following initial booking of gas this year (pre-drill expectations were in range of 1-2 Tcf) with that trend estimated to hold up to 10 Tcf of unrisked gas," he said.

He noted that Oil Search recently outlined that it was re-examining plans to accelerate gas from existing PNG LNG fields that would be used to front load the PNG LNG expansion train.

ExxonMobil announces 84 per cent increase in P’nyang resource, potential expansion in PNG

ExxonMobil
Wednesday, April 11, 2018

2 trillion cubic feet of gas added to P’nyang field resource estimate
Recoverable resource now estimated at 4.36 trillion cubic feet of gas
Supports three-train LNG plant expansion concept

IRVING, Texas – Exxon Mobil Corporation today announced that the size of the natural gas resource at the P’nyang field in Papua New Guinea has increased to 4.36 trillion cubic feet of gas, an 84 percent increase from a previous assessment completed in 2012.
The increase supports a potential significant expansion of operations in the country.
The independent recertification study by Netherland Sewell and Associates follows the successful completion in January of the P’nyang South-2 well, located in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea.
The results support ExxonMobil’s discussions with its joint venture partners on a three-train expansion concept for the PNG LNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant near Port Moresby, with one new train dedicated to gas from the P’nyang and PNG LNG fields and two trains dedicated to gas associated with the Papua LNG project.
“The increase in the estimated resource size of the P’nyang field helps illustrate the tremendous growth opportunities for our operations in Papua New Guinea,” said Liam Mallon, president of ExxonMobil Development Company.
“We are working closely with our joint venture partners and the government to progress the P’nyang field development proposal and secure the licenses needed to develop this world-class resource.”
The development concept, which would add approximately 8 million tons of LNG annually, would double the capacity of the existing LNG plant operated by ExxonMobil.
“This investment would extend our gas pipeline infrastructure into the country’s Western Province and have a meaningful and lasting economic impact for Papua New Guinea and its people,” Mallon said.
The P’nyang field is located within petroleum retention license 3, which covers 105,000 acres (425 square kilometers). ExxonMobil affiliates operate the license with a 49 percent interest in the block. Affiliates of Oil Search have a 38.5 percent interest and JX Nippon has 12.5 percent interest.
Papua LNG is seeking to commercialise the Elk-Antelope fields located in petroleum retention license 15 in the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea.
An ExxonMobil affiliate holds 37.1 percent interest, and affiliates of operator Total S.A. and Oil Search Limited have 40.1 percent and 22.8 percent interest, respectively.  

Scandal-tainted Papua New Guinea football chief quits

SPORTS CGTN
2018-04-11

Scandal-tainted football chief David Chung has quit as head of the Papua New Guinea Football Association, days after resigning as Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) president over corruption concerns.

Chung stepped down on Friday as Oceania's top football official citing "personal reasons." But FIFA subsequently revealed an audit had uncovered "potential irregularities" in the construction of a lavish new Auckland headquarters for the OFC.
The world governing body has temporarily suspended all funding to Oceania. The fall of Malaysian-born Chung is now complete after he also resigned as president of the PNGFA, a position he had held since 2004, a statement on its website said Wednesday.
"To ensure good governance and accountability at all levels, the executive committee of PNGFA will adhere to the status of PNG Football Association and comply with the process in electing a new president of PNGFA," said Vice President John Wesley Gonjuan.
"In the meantime, it's business as usual." The FIFA audit raised concerns about the construction of a sports hub in Auckland that Chung said would become "The Home of Football" in the Pacific region.
With a reported budget of 15 million NZ dollars (10.9 million US dollars), it was a pet project of Chung, who had led the OFC since 2010.
The New York Times has reported that Chung and former OFC General Secretary Tai Nicholas awarded contracts for the scheme without tender to companies with no track record in the area.
It claimed the audit showed many of the companies were set up just before the contracts were awarded and questioned their relationship with those driving the project.
The newspaper alleged the OFC's executive committee was planning to suspend Chung for "gross dereliction of duty or an act of improper conduct" at a meeting last weekend before he fell on his sword.
Nicholas quietly resigned in December, also citing personal reasons.

Highlands loses first round in Frieda River arbitration

miningweekly.com | April 10, 2018

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Highlands Pacific is facing a $12.4-million bill relating to the Frieda River copper/gold project, in Papua New Guinea, after the first stage of arbitration found in favour of project partner PanAust.

Highlands, which has a 20% interest in the Frieda River joint venture (JV), has been arguing that a feasibility study submitted to the Papua New Guinea government as part of an application for a special mining lease in June 2016, was incomplete, and that the company’s free carry should continue.

However, an arbitrator has determined in the first stage of an arbitration process that Highland’s free carry for the Frieda River project feasibility study ended on the date of the lodgment of an application for a special mining lease.

The arbitration will now proceed to the second stage, with Highlands telling shareholders that it will be contending that other provisions of the JV agreement should be applied to make PanAust liable in the first instance for the full cost of the feasibility studies undertaken since June 2016, with the right for Highlands to pay its share at a later date, if the project proceeds.

If Highlands is unsuccessful in the second stage, and if the cash calls made by PanAust are held to be valid, the ASX-listed company will be expected to pay its share of project expenditure from June 2016 to May 2018, which amounts to some $12.4-million.

In this case, the company could either elect to pay the amount, or have its share in the JV dilute by around 2.2%.

Meanwhile, the permitting process for the Frieda River project is continuing, although the Papua New Guinea authorities are awaiting the completion of current feasibility study work, which is scheduled for the second half of 2018.

Exxon expects Papua New Guinea LNG project to restart in May

reuters.com | April 11, 2018

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - ExxonMobil Corp expects to restart production from its Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (LNG) project at the start of May after it was shut following an earthquake in February, ExxonMobil LNG Vice President Emma Cochrane said on Wednesday.
The $19 billion LNG facility, opened in 2014 in a remote location in one of Asia’s poorest and most politically troubled countries, has been closed since the powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake.
The project is considered one of the world’s best-performing LNG operations, despite the challenge of drilling for gas and building a plant and pipeline in the remote Papua New Guinea jungle.
Australia’s Oil Search and Santos are Exxon’s main partners in the project.
The LNG export terminal may not be able to produce at full capacity at first and will likely ramp up gradually, Cochrane said on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum.
“We are hopeful that we will be able to start in the beginning of May. We are actually ahead of schedule,” Cochrane told Reuters.
ExxonMobil has said there has not been any indication that the 700 km (435 mile) pipeline that delivers gas to its coastal LNG plant had been damaged by the quake, which flattened villages, killed dozens of people and spoilt water sources.
Cochrane also said the company has recertified the reserves in its P’nyang field in Papua New Guinea, and the reserves are higher than it previously thought.
“That gives us the potential to expand the facilities in the P’nyang field for the PNG LNG foundation project,” she said.
Exxon is likely to take a final investment decision this year on expanding its Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas - a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips , Cochrane said.
The company intends to expand its facility in Qatar, but “they have still not made a decision on partnering,” Cochrane said.
“We very much hope that Exxon Mobil will be a part of that story. But Qatar Petroleum is still considered their partnership choices.”

Project Brief: Papua New Guinea Earthquake Response Common Service

reliefweb.int | April 1, 2018

Click for a full PDF report

On 26 February 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the highlands region of Papua New Guinea, resulting in a Government-declared state of emergency for Hela, Southern Highlands, Western and Enga provinces. Some 465,000 people are estimated to be affected with 247,000 requiring immediate assistance.

The affected areas have significant access challenges. Majority of humanitarian items must be flown in as roads are not always reliable. In terms of communications, there are limited radio towers and existing FM radio has limited range due to mountains.

With affected communities desperately needing information on aid and assistance, humanitarian actors quickly mobilised to establish a coordinated approach to communicating with communities to more rapidly respond and reach a greater number of affected people with the limited collective resources available. With this, a Communicating with Communities Working Group coordinated by the United Nations Resident Coordinators’ Office under the Protection Cluster was formed.

To reach communities with life-saving messages and alerts, an information line was established using audio streaming over mobile phones – essentially turning mobile phones into radios - with support from Digicel and UN Women. Community members can dial into the information line to hear short updates from humanitarian agencies - 50,000 text messages to be sent twice weekly to promote an information line and share key messages. An additional 10,000 automated calls will be made to the affected area, playing the short messages once the call is connected.