Wednesday, November 24, 2010

15 foreign investment analysts visit LNG sites

A 15-man team of foreign investment analysts is  impressed with the oil operations at Oil Search Ltd and the activities at the PNG gas project sites, The National reports.

The team was in the country recently to have a first-hand look at the on-going gas and oil projects.

Later, they met with Public Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare.

OSL managing director Peter Botten and his team of executives hosted the team composed of fund managers, bankers and investors that included JB Morgan Securities, Norges Bank, JP Capital Partners, Macquarie Equities, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Asset Management, BNP Baribas Securities, Macquarie Securities and Nomura Securities.

They were told in detailed briefings that in 2014, gas from the oil producing fields, which is currently being re-injected into the fields, will be recovered and fed into the PNG LNG pipeline as the first gas off-take for overseas markets.

This excited the analysts and raised a lot of questions regarding the development and expansion of the central processing facility in Kutubu to cater for the LNG project and a host of other financing issues.

They also visited the construction site of the Hides gas conditioning plant and the first of a number of Hides well-pads that will feed plant.

Former managing director of Mineral Resources Development Corp Francis Kaupa – a structural engineer, who heads the civil works, ground clearance and infrastructure – gave the visitors a thorough briefing on the early works.

They also flew over Komo and saw the huge airport construction underway. When completed, this airport will take the world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov.

Botten told the visitors that PNG, especially the Southern Highlands and the Gulf, was  attractive oil and gas provinces which raised the interests of a lot of potential investors

Most of the analysts were very pleased with what they saw and heard as they were driven through the heart of Hela region by road which allayed any fears they might have had about project security.

 

 

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