PNG Could Reallocate Up to 20 Energy Licences

Papua New Guinea could reallocate up to 20 energy licences, many of them in the upstream business, reported news agency Reuters Tuesday quoting country's minister of petroleum and energy Nixon Duban.

Duban said in London that PNG has reviewed some 100 outstanding licences to check if they were still in line with requirements and held by solvent companies.

'We want to be really strong, we want to be ensure that the licences are not abused and not warehoused by those who don't have the capacity, but rather give them to serious players,' he said, declining to name projects or licence holders affected, Reuters reported.

The review had found that about half of the licence holders were in breach of conditions like not adhering to regulation, farming out part of the agreement to other companies without permission, or having gone into bankruptcy, Reuters reported.

'There are a number of big companies, and a good number of medium size companies (which are affected),' he said, adding he expected some 30 licence holders to be able to fix their issues, though another 20 contracts could be reallocated, some of them still this year.