Kumul Petroleum Holdings Ltd.

04/16/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/16/2021 00:54

Kumul Petroleum awarded Petroleum Retention Licences to develop Gas Fields

  • Port Moresby
  • Posted 16th Apr, 2021

Kumul Petroleum awarded Petroleum Retention Licences to develop Gas Fields

Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL) welcomes the Government's decision to award it Petroleum Retention Licences (PRL) 48, 49 and 50 covering the already discovered gas fields of Kimu, Barikewa and Uramu. Kimu and Barikewa fields are onshore and Urumu is offshore in the shallow waters off Kikori area. The three fields have an estimated 2C resource estimate of slightly over 2TCF of gas with approximately 50-60Million barrels condensate.

This will provide Kumul Petroleum the opportunity to develop these three promising natural gas with high liquid content fields, generating revenue for the State and the people of Papua New Guinea.

Wapu Sonk, Managing Director of KPHL, said:

'We are pleased the Government has recognised Kumul Petroleum as the best licence holder for these licenses that have expired and placed in the custody of KPHL, the National Oil Company. This is in line with the Marape-Basil Government 'Take Back PNG' policy where assets that have not been commercialised is now transferred to the National Oil Company.

We will explore cheaper and more cost effective ways to commercialise this fields not only in LNG and gas production but downstream processing, Power Generation, Quicklime and Cement production etc.

I thank the Petroleum Advisory Board (PAB) and Minister for coming to this decision, which demonstrates their confidence in the country's National Oil and Gas Company, which is ready now to lead in development of our resources after last Ten Years of being a passive investor in PNGLNG Project and other developments.

'At Kumul Petroleum, we take seriously our responsibility to move forward quickly so the assets can begin generating returns for the nation. We are looking forward to getting them started but will only do so on good commercial terms, which deliver substantial benefits to Papua New Guinea and its people.

'Our focus now is on developing commercial strategies for the PRLs, so we can work towards bringing them to market.

'This is another milestone for our company and the country, as we continue to work to develop our excellent resources and support the world's transition away from coal. Papua New Guinea has some of the world's best natural gas assets, which KPHL is committed to developing with local people and businesses, the Government and global partners.'

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