Photo Credit: Kaieteur News
Even though Papua New Guinea produces oil and gas, making inexpensive energy available remains a difficulty, according to Minister for Petroleum Kerenga Kua.
He believes that this is why the Energy Department must adopt a holistic strategy to lowering energy costs by introducing new energy sources such as hydropower, geothermal energy, and wind turbines.
“We have a lot of natural resources available with cheap labour and energy that can create a platform for industries to drive energy costs down for industries and consumers.
“Creating more employment, tax base and revenue will benefit the country with abundant natural resources with a lot of cheap labour,” Kua said.
He stated that the sector is undergoing a lot of changes, including production-sharing arrangements.
He explained that the purpose of the production sharing agreement was to ensure that the state derived the most value from mineral, oil, gas, and gold production through legislative reforms in the country.
“All of this will happen through the implementation of the national energy policy 2017-2027.”
One of the policy's main thrusts, according to Kua, is the domestic market obligation. Once the state receives all domestic market obligations, all petroleum will be able to be allocated to power and petroleum chemical producers, ensuring cheap electricity and petroleum chemical products, including fertilisers.
Reference:
Post-Courier (31 May 2021). “Make Available Cheap Energy, Says Minister”.
