PNG Chamber of Mining and Petroleum

PNG country manager for Newcrest Mining Limited and vice-president of the PNG Chamber of Mining and Petroleum, Peter Aitsi, recently told new MPs that regulatory frameworks that are detrimental to investment will have a direct impact on revenue streams for the country.

The comments were made during the National Parliament Induction Programme.

Speaking to recently elected MPs, Aitsi said they needed to be aware of the delicate correlation between PNG remaining an investment destination as well as regulations introduced for the country.

In its bi-monthly issue, the PNG Chamber of Mining and Petroleum highlighted the drop in exploration investment, which has the potential to severely impact the country’s mining sector.

In a survey conducted by the Chamber, covering the period between 2012 and 2015, mineral exploration expenditure dropped from a peak of K944.3 million in 2011 to K325.5 million in 2015.

This followed a near decade of high activity from 2003 to 2011.

O’Neill announced this during the PNG Chamber of Mining and Petroleum Conference in Sydney on Monday.

He said any new changes will be left to the new parliament.

“I want to state categorically that there will be no changes to the Mining Act prior to the 2017 National Election.

“It is only right that the new Parliament be granted the mandate to carry forward any changes to the existing Mining legislation,” he said.

From the discovery, only 15 per cent has been produced while 25 per cent is yet to be commercialized.

PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum President, Gerea Aopi, said according to Oil Search Limited, 60 per cent of PNG’s oil and gas potential is undiscovered.

However, more exploration was needed to discover potential oil and gas reserves and required heavy investment.