Acting Secretary of the Department of Petroleum and Energy, Kepsie Puiye, says a secretariat will be established to facilitate the establishment of the proposed Petroleum and Energy Authority.
He told Loop PNG that so far, the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum has shown its support to him for the establishment of the authority.
“What that means is that the industry will put the money up front to bring in short term consultants who will basically focus on setting up the authority.”
He says this means they will do all the necessary work, like the drafting of the bill, which will give legal meaning to the operation of the new authority.
“They will also be looking at identifying potential revenue sources, which will become the cash flow base for the new authority.
“So actually, I’m seeing a lot of positive support from the industry but I’m also at the same time engaging with the state agencies that we need to actually push for the authority concept because as we speak now, the industry is expanding,” Puiye said.
Recently, the Gas Projects Coordinating Office formally opened it new office space and there have been suggestions of moving the DPE Secretary and key personnel into the office.
This is expected to fast track the setting up of the Authority, which will regulate the industry in the best interest of the country.
“I need to have a structure where it attracts the best engineers, geologists, so we properly remunerate this people, under the Authority concept so that we effectively and efficiently regulate this multi-billion dollar industry,” Puiye said.
“So if we do that, it will actually elevate PNG’s reputation as a highly competitive investment destination. At the same time, we’ll be giving a positive signal to the investors that PNG is not only exporting oil and gas, but they know how to regulate the industry.”
Loop file photo