Representatives from the Petroleum Development License (PDL) 4 in Gobe, Southern Highlands Province today signed an agreement with Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited to exercise the Kroton Equity Option through the vendor finance arrangement.
10 representatives from Zones One, Two, and Three Facilitiy’s of Gobe, signed ‘Unit Application Forms’ which paves the way for their share of the 25.75 per cent commercial interest in the PNG Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project to be transferred to them.
Despite the Kroton Equity Option lapsing on December 31 2016, PDL 4 – Gobe had expressed their interest to sign the agreement before the due date.
KPHL Managing Director, Wapu Sonk, congratulated the landowner’s for allowing representatives to sign so that their commercial shares are transferred to PDL 4 – Gobe.
He said unlike other beneficiary groups who have yet to be properly identified through clan vetting and landowner identification, PDL 4 already had established structures in place and thus they only needed to acquire the shares.
“For PDL 4 its easy you already have established ILG’s and leadership structures and so the greenfield would ‘ve held you back. That’s why we stepped in to provide this vendor financing so nobody misses out.
“So im happy that you have thought about it and you have discussed it among yourselves and taken the option that has been provided by Kumul before the 31st (December),” he said.
While the signing took place many landowners remain unhappy over outstanding issues which they want addressed immediately.
One of them is the establishment of a separate entity so that payments from the commercial shares in Kroton go there and not to The Petroleum Resources Gobe under Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC).
Sonk assured them that that option can be facilitated, however, wanted coherency from all landowners.
Under the Umbrella Benefit Sharing Agreement (UBSA) PDL 4 owns a 3 per cent interest in the Kroton Equity commercial share offered by the Government.
Agreeing to sign the option, PDL 4 – Gobe joins nine other beneficiary groups to have exercised the Kroton Equity Option through the vendor finance option. And they are:
- PNG LNG Plant site (Papa, Lealea, Boera, Porebada)
- PNG LNG Pipeline (Segment 1 – 8)
- PDL 9 (Juha)
- PDL 5 (Moran)
- North West Moran
- Fly River Provincial Government
- Gulf Provincial Goverment
- Southern Highlands Provincial Government and Hela Provincial Government
- Central Provincial Government