InterOil spuds Antelope-5

InterOil

 

Singapore and Port Moresby, December 23, 2014: InterOil Corporation (NYSE: IOC; POMSoX: IOC) has started drilling the Antelope-5 appraisal well in Petroleum Retention License 15 in the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea.

Antelope-5 is about 1.8 kilometers from Antelope-3 and will appraise the western extent of the Elk- Antelope field.
InterOil will keep the market informed of material developments.

***
About InterOil
InterOil Corporation is an independent oil and gas business with a primary focus on Papua New Guinea.
 InterOil’s assets include one of Asia’s largest undeveloped gas fields, Elk-Antelope, in the Gulf Province, and exploration licences covering about 16,000sqkm.
The company employs more than 2,000 staff and contractors.
Its main offices are in Singapore and Port Moresby. InterOil is listed on the New York and Port Moresby stock exchanges.

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill 2014 Christmas Message

2014 Christmas Message

Hon. Peter O’Neill CMG MP

Prime Minister

23 December 2014

 

Firstly let me take this opportunity to wish every citizen on our country a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

As we end this year I know that it has been challenging year for all of us including our

Government and our country.

We again want to inform you that our country’s performance, in terms of the development of our country, is very positive and it is gaining strength and momentum as we are ready to enter the New Year.

Our economic growth over the past few months has been very stable - it has been growing at around 8 per cent per annum and indications are that we will end the year on a very strong note.

Our inflation has been very steady, our interest rates are very steady, our foreign reserves are very high, enough to cover six months of imports, and our employment levels in the country are continuing to increase because of the government’s strong commitment to the policies that we have introduced to our country.

Our strong investment in health and education is starting to produce results, we are seeing more kids in school.

We are also investing more money into higher learning institutions like universities, we are putting direct funding into those areas so that we could accommodate more students being taken into the coming year.

In 2016 we are putting more money as we have committed in the budget into those institutions, while the same time continuing to fund the free education program that we have so far successfully introduced for the past three years.

I know that it is not been an easy year.

Politically of course we have had some challenges, based on some ongoing and unfounded allegations, but as a Government we have been able to maintain some stability and of course that stability has allowed us to continue to achieve the outcomes that we have been able to do so this year.

We have also increased our investment in infrastructure.

Many roads throughout the country have been built, and as a result of that you can see that people are able to move freely, access services, and have ]access to markets where they can sell their goods and earn an income for their families.

We will continue to maintain that level of investment in 2015, 2016 and 2017, so that we can open up our country.

We are starting to invest more into opening up our country in some of our areas that have been isolated for many years.

Places like Telefomin, places like Simbai, Karimui-Nomane, places like Kandrian- Gloucester and many other places in the country like Kaintiba and Menyama and Aseki and all these places where no proper road infrastructure was able to connect them to receiving services that they are entitled to.

The Government is continuing to expand on investing in the road infrastructure that will link those communities.

We are investing more money to the districts which are now starting to maintain the roads and maintain the schools, to maintain the hospitals.

So all-in-all I think that we have had a very good year and I know that next year is going to be a continuation of that work that we have started.

We are continuing to invest money into the same priorities that we have invested in 2014 into

2015.

Because we can see the results, it is important that we continue to maintain the course of that investment.

 If we divert our attention elsewhere we are not going to achieve the results that we all want. We must invest in health, we must invest in education, we must invest in law and order, we must invest in infrastructure.

More work will be done. We cannot fix all the problems in one year, but I want to assure every citizen of this country that your Government will continue to work for you so that we can have meaningful change in this country, and as a result of that change, your life can get better and the life of your kids and your families can improve into the New Year and beyond.

So once again I want to take this opportunity to wish every man, woman and child, and the community throughout the country a very best Merry Christmas and happy New Year.

I know that next year is going to be challenging year.

Many of you know that we have had declining oil prices coming through the global economy, some of the global economies like in Europe and America are slowing down.

They are struggling to maintain some level of growth.

In some cases they are entering into recession.

These are a concern to our economy as well because we are selling to those markets.

China is also slowing down slightly, we hope they will continue to maintain their growth because they are our biggest customer.

Japan has entered into a slight recession, but hopefully with the re-election by Prime Minister Abe their economy will be entering positive growth because they are again very important customers of Papua New Guinea, very important trading partners of Papua New Guinea.

When their economies do well, our economy will do well as well.

We will as government continue to maintain a very close watch on many of these issues, especially how the global economy trends, but all-in-all I can assure you that the economy and the management of the economy and the management of our country is in good hands.

We have got a hard-working Government, hard-working ministers and a hard-working

Parliament that is working for the good of our people.

We look forward to seeing you in the New Year, and once again let me thank you for your support.

Thank for your prayers that has been able to give us the strength and the encouragement that we need to continue to work for our people.

Thank you and God bless each and every one of you.

 

 

 

PM O’Neill opens Raba Raba Jetty in Milne Bay

Prime Minister's Office

Thousands of people living in the area around Raba Raba Station in Milne Bay will benefit from

the construction of a new jetty that was opened by the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill  this week.

The people of Raba Raba will also have clean drinking water and sanitation for the first time in

their history following the commitment to build a water treatment plant.

 

 

As the nation prepares to celebrate 40 years of independence, the Prime Minister has further

committed K200,000 to restore burial headstones as a lasting memorial to two of the nation’s founding Fathers, Sir John Guise and Sir Kingsford Dibela.

In opening the jetty, O’Neill said he hoped the new infrastructure, that includes new roads

under construction, would deliver immediate positive change for people in villages around Raba

Raba.

“For the first time, agricultural producers in the area surrounding Raba Raba will have a more

efficient means for getting their product to market than in the past,” he said.

“We must build infrastructure that will be used by people throughout the country.

“This is a rural-focused Government, we are here to serve the majority of Papua New Guineas

who live in the rural communities around the country.

“We need services in the rural areas.

"We need healthcare and education delivered to the rural areas so that people can have better lives. To deliver these services we need to build the infrastructure that make it possible for government to deliver services, while at the same time businesses can grow and develop.”

The new jetty in Raba Raba is one of six jetties that have been delivered by the Member for Alotau Open and Minister for National Planning Charles Abel MP through his DSIP funding.

The jetties are constructed of concrete and steel to withstand cyclonic conditions and last for decades to come.

During the visit, the Prime Minister committed K1 million to build a water treatment system Raba Raba that will bring clean drinking water and sanitation to Raba Raba for the first time in
the station’s history.

“Access to lasting supply of clean drinking water and sanitation is a basic service that must be

delivered and we will build the water treatment plant.

“This is part of Government’s ongoing commitment to improve standards of living right around the

nation and access to clean water is part of this program.

“For too long Governments in Waigani have done nothing when the basic things such as water

should have been provided.”

O’Neill said in committing funding to restore the headstones of two of the nation’s founding

Fathers in Raba Raba was important for the nation.

“I want to thank you for producing some of the best leaders of Papua New Guinea, including Sir

John Guise, our first Governor General and Sir Kingsford Dibela.

“They have contributed immeasurably to our country and we must continue to honour them.

"Even as a small boy in Ialibu-Pangia we knew of Sir John Guise and Sir Kingsford Dibela.

“It is important that their memorials are restored and they are accorded the respect an dignity that

they deserve.”

Lupari: Polye-Flanagan seek to undermine economy for political self-interest

Office of the Prime Minister

 

Prime Minister's Chief of Staff  Isaac Lupari has raised concerns at political interference by a former Australian government advisor working with the Leader of the Opposition to undermine the government.
Lupari said that as a close advisor to the former Treasurer, recent articles written by Paul Flanagan were more political spin than real analysis and these views were not impartial.
"Despite claims by Mr Polye and Flanagan, Papua New Guinea is largely protected from oil price fluctuation because forward contracts were signed before the recent change in oil prices," he said.
"Their argument is based around the claim that Papua New Guinea will receive substantially less income from LNG sales and this is simply not true.
"PNG LNG exports and prices are predominantly locked into long-term forwards sales contracts.  In simple terms this means that Papua New Guinea will receive the same price for LNG.
"Mr Flanagan should know that LNG prices are locked in but he continues to play politics with business perceptions and the Opposition is going along with this nonsense.
"Polye-Flanagan appear to have no conscience when it comes to talking down the economy for their own political self-interest, and do not care of harm this could cause to small business and jobs in Papua New Guinea.
"Almost every budget in ever country in the world is framed around a theory of market fluctuation and expectation that prices will change.  The 2015 budget is designed according to these economic principles, so the Polye-Flanagan assertion that the 2015 budget is under threat is grossly misleading.
"Analysis and discussion on the economy is always welcome, but motive must be declared.  Mr Flanagan's agenda is very clear - it is political and unprofessional. If Mr Flanagan was genuine, he could have sought to engage with the Government and voice his concerns instead of playing games in the media.
"If the Leader of the Opposition does not understand the subject matter there are a number of truly independent experts who live and work in Papua New Guinea from whom he could seek advice."

PNG joins list of countries staring into the abyss

By ROWAN CALLICK

The Australian

Dec 23, 2014

 

PAPUA New Guinea has joined the list of countries severely damaged by the collapse in oil and gas prices.

It faces a spiralling budgetary deficit unless it swiftly adjusts to lower revenues and unwinds ­ambitious new spending, according to former Treasury official Paul Flanagan. “PNG had set itself on a slippery slope towards a crisis, and the world just gave it a great big shove,” he said.

If the government does not act soon, he said, “PNG will be going to the International Monetary Fund or another country seeking a large bailout”.

Opposition leader and former treasurer Don Polye agreed, yesterday saying the country’s budget deficit threatens to rise above 10 per cent, and the debt to GDP ratio to 75 per cent by 2017 — 2½ times the maximum level permitted by the country’s Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Mr Polye urged that the kina, the rate of which has been managed since June 4, be allowed to depreciate — claiming that international reserves would otherwise be exhausted within two years. “Unfortunately Santa Claus isn’t going to be visiting the government this Christmas.”

 Prime Minister Peter O’Neill responded that “the opposition leader should not panic, but needs to better consider the current ­global market situation before making irrational claims”.

He said that “price fluctuation is factored into the budget”, and the government was monitoring the situation. “Energy production is a long-term investment that will experience market turbulence. The market for liquefied natural gas remains strong.”

The government announced in its 2015 budget plans to cut spending by 6 per cent in 2016 and 2017.

Mr Flanagan, who was seconded as an adviser to the PNG Treasury from 2011 to 2013, has written a paper for the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University, where he is now a visiting fellow, saying that LNG production had often been conceived as transformative for PNG. “But just at the time the country was to benefit from the revenue and foreign exchange flows from (PNG’s first, ExxonMobil managed, LNG project which came on stream in midyear), international markets have dealt a cruel blow,” he said. There would be no tax revenue from this first LNG project “for many years,” Mr Flanagan said — until depreciation allowances end.

The oil price collapse “also significantly reduces the viability of other LNG projects in the pipeline”, he said.

The country’s growth rate for 2015 was forecast in the budget — just six weeks ago — at a world-topping 15.5 per cent thanks to LNG receipts, but is now expected to reach 6.9 per cent. With good policies, suitable adjustments could be made. “However, PNG has moved to poor policies over the last six months such as moving away from a market-based exchange rate, starting to print money to fund the deficit, and deciding on an unsustainable fiscal policy in the 2015 budget,” Mr Flanagan said.

The adjustment needed to avoid a crisis is thus all the more painful, Mr Flanagan said, urging that the 2015 budget be rewritten to avoid a spiralling deficit: “Good public policy making just became much harder — but also more ­important.”

The shift from the market-based kina, he said, triggered a fall in income for PNG’s 2.1 million people who depend on coffee-growing, as well as other small-scale agricultural producers. The kina has since risen by 22 per cent against the Australian dollar since the June 4 intervention — “which makes no economic sense unless payments against major loans in US dollars are being protected”.

The return to a market-based exchange rate would provide a “shock absorber” for the economy, he said. “Market estimates are that the oil price will recover, but only very slowly — and by the end of 2019 it would still be nearly 30 per cent lower than PNG Treasury forecasts.”

At a PNG Mining and Petroleum conference in Sydney earlier this month, Mr O’Neill detailed the government’s “record investment” via the 2015 budget “in free primary education, free universal health care, and expanded skills training.”

The country remained, he said, “a sound and secure nation in which to invest to do business.”

The Asian Development Bank said in its recent regional review that the rest of the PNG economy beyond mining and petroleum was unlikely to salvage the ­dilemma — with its growth forecast at just 1.6 per cent for 2014, and with 2015 returns shadowed by the boosted kina.

Pruaitch: Government monitoring world commodities markets

Office of the Minister for Treasury

Minister for Treasury, Patrick Pruaitch, in response to the Opposition Leader’s claims in the Post-Courier front-page report yesterday about falling commodity prices, re-assures the country that the Government is fully aware of the current developments in the world commodities markets and is closely monitoring the movements in prices.

“As a responsible Government, the O’Neill-Dion Government is monitoring the developments very closely and is fully aware of the implications the falls in prices will have on the economy particularly on Government revenues,” the Treasurer said in a statement.
“The Government , however,  believes that it is too early to be making any adjustments to the 2015 Budget for now.
“At this stage, there is no need to panic.
"The Government is fully aware of the situation and is looking ahead at the options available should the need to adjust arise.”
Pruaitch assured the people of Papua New Guinea that the Government would take all the necessary measures to ensure that the adverse movements in the revenue outlook were contained and that the 2015 Budget remained on track for the stated fiscal targets.
“Whilst the oil prices have fallen by 36.6% since the 2015 Budget, copper and gold prices remain on track. 
"They have only declined by 6.1 and 7.2% respectively since the 2015 Budget, contrary to the 40% price decline as claimed by the opposition leader.
“For the LNG exports, whilst world LNG prices depend and trend closely to the world oil prices, much of the PNG LNG exports and prices is locked in the long term forwards sales contracts.”
Pruaitch whilst he had been unwilling to respond to Opposition Leader directly, "these are other recent statements in the Press recently that are utterly irresponsible. 
"Now is the time for cooperation to give Papua New Guineans the true facts and not political point scoring."
He said the Opposition Leader's statements were extremely consistent with the former head of the Australian advisory team during Polye’s tenure in Vulupindi Haus. 
"In some instances,  it is difficult to work out whether these thoughts are Polye’s or those of this advisor,  which is receiving a lot of air time in the mainstream and social media," Pruaitch said.

 “For my department, we are well aware of the scenario and will take the necessary measures to ensure that external impacts are mitigated as much as possible.

“Developments in the world economy is something that is beyond everybody’s control and it is times like this when responsible Government’s will need to be proactive and have contingencies in place to be able to effectively deal with such circumstances.
"This is what the O’Neill –Dion Government is doing and is asking everyone to be patient and to refrain from making claims that could drive public perception – remember perception drives fear more so than facts.
“Finally let me re-assure the nation that, the Government understands the implications of the recent sharp movements in commodity prices particularly oil and will be monitoring it closely as we head into Christmas and the New Year.”

Marape: No need to panic

Office of the Minister for Finance

The Government is confident the 2015 Budget assumptions are safe despite the fall in the price of oil.Finance Minister James Marape said this yesterday, despite the "doom and gloom predictions of an Opposition Leader (Don Polye) determined to talk down a growing economy"

“While we welcome the advice proposed by the Opposition, this needs to be based on fact instead of drivel,” Marape said.

“There is no cause for alarm and this is not the time for a knee-jerk reaction, as proposed by the Opposition.
“A number of factors have contributed to the current market, with the oil price trending downwards. In less than two months the global oil price slumped about 35%. It may take the same period, if not less, for the price to climb back up and beyond.
“You do not have to be a former Treasurer to understand that this is how a market works. 
"Even high school students know that markets fluctuate, so I think the former Treasurer could be more considered in what he says.
“As a responsible government, we are watching these trends very closely.
"We are not about to over-react, nor should anyone else.
“The factors causing these price swings are beyond our control.
"All we can do is closely and carefully monitor the situation, and act to protect our interest when the time to review our budget comes around.
"That time is June next year when Treasury releases a review of the Budget."
 Marape said forecast for the revenue from the PNG LNG project remained on track because the sale price was locked into long-term contract agreements signed with the customers.
He also said the Central Bank’s decision to intervene in the currency market was a decision that the government welcomed.
“The buy and sell margins were too wide, and the commercial banks were sitting back and making money at the foreign exchange market, at the expense of our people and visitors, so the Central Bank intervention is timely and one we fully support," Marape said.
“The kina exchange rate against its major trading currencies remains stable around levels very attractive to exporters.
"Members (MPs) should be back in the villages using their district funds to help people get their coffee, copra and cocoa and other export crops to the market.
“Members (MPs) should not be holed up in hotels in Port Moresby listening to prophets of doom who preach nothing but negative politics.
"It’s the festive period and we must be with our people to celebrate Christmas.”