Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited Managing Director, Wapu Sonk, says the lessons learnt from the PNG LNG project will prepare the country to address landowner benefits much better in future projects.
However, he said this did not to mean that landowners were not receiving any benefits at all. He said landowners of certain fields of the project were receiving their benefits since 2014
“The Brown Field areas, Gobe and Kutubu and these places already have a mechanism in place so they are receiving it.”
“Lets not be misled by saying that LNG Benefits have not been received,” he said.
Sonk made the remarks after being questioned by the media that the Oil and Gas Act may be outdated and if there needed to be a review.
He said the Act has been tested against other projects in Moran, Gobe and Kutubu.
Sonk said the current issues they had with distributing landowner benefits, especially from the PNG LNG Project, was because of the aggregation fields.
“Some are green filed, some are brown field that’s why its taken time. It’s tested the department (Petroleum and Energy) and it’s tested everybody.”
“We’ve never done this before, let’s face it. It’s an integrated project that’s complicated because it runs 700 km and different landowner groups and different clans.”
Sonk said for the Greens Fields which include, Angore, Hides, and Juha, the funds remain with the Central bank and the Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC).
The payments of the funds await legal battles currently afoot.