Quite encouraging..
O’Neill assures investors
The National – Monday 03rd October, 2011
PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has assured local business houses and foreign investors, including new and returning ones, that his government will provide a leadership that is predictable and user-friendly. He said this during his People’s National Congress party fundraising dinner at the Dynasty Sea Food restaurant in Port Moresby on Saturday evening.
“I want to assure resident businesses and foreign investors, new and returning investors that the playground upon which we all play under my watch as head of government is a level field, predictable and user-friendly,” he said. He said his government was committed to providing a win-win opportunity for all foreign investment partnerships that the state had entered.
“I say this particularly to re-assure foreign investors and service providers in the mining and oil and gas industries that our government is not hostile against you. “Our government will allow no manipulative and rogue takeover bids of loyal investors who have stuck by Papua New Guinea through good and bad economic times,” he said.
“Our government definitely does not have an expropriation agenda against any existing business or foreign investment. “We merely want all of us to play by the same rules, honour agreements and contracts and to respect each other. “Our government is committed to ensuring that resident investors are protected against unfair political manipulation.
“We welcome new and returning investor and we urge them to come through the front door with what they have to invest and be transparent about their interests and their sincerity.” O’Neill said Papua New Guinea’s economy had enjoyed nine years of continued growth on the back of very favourable export commodity revenue inflows, and it was heading for more growth over the next 20 years underpinned by strong revenue inflows from the mining and hydrocarbon sectors.
He said PNG had several world-class mines and two world-class LNG projects being developed. He said the LNG projects by ExxonMobil and by InterOil were multi-billion dollar investments that the government would help to ensure they arrived at their respective development and production deadlines without unnecessary fuss.
————[End of article]———-
We think the latter comment especially is relevant. This can only mean much, if not all of the Gulf project will go ahead. Scrapping it in favour of a big plant build on-site at Napa Napa (the original plan) would produce years of delays. Nobody stands to gain from that.
It’s not doing much to calm the market at the moment I’m afraid.
It nice fluff by O’Neil. Heres the critical statement as I see it “We merely want all of us to play by the same rules, honour agreements and contracts and to respect each other”
He’s going to hold IOC to the approved 2009 project agreement. Better hope IOC had it ammended etc when they changed the plan. Hope the ran it througha good legal team and had it Ok’d by Somare at the time.
Hey Drew, how do you know the project agreement needs to be amended. As far as I know it isn’t available for public consumption. Sounds like you are on the fear bandwagon.
Drew – You might be right, but to be so you have to ignore the question just how can the Napa Napa project be built on its original timeline? “the government would help to ensure they arrived at their respective development and production deadlines without unnecessary fuss.”
Then, just how is O’Neil going to AGAIN walk back his comments about IOC having a world class project “BEING DEVELOPED”? If he’s talking NAPA NAPA, it ain’t.
Then, with IOC having been on the island for 15 years and a key part of its energy infrastructure I suspect they just might qualify as “loyal investors”. To quote ONeil, “Our government will allow no manipulative and rogue takeover bids of loyal investors who have stuck by Papua New Guinea through good and bad economic times,” he said.
You might be right, but I think you might be parsing O’Neils statement just a little much (for fun or profit?).