Petroleum Resource Development Michael McWalter writes about petroleum development in its widest sense and the finding and extraction of oil and gas resources from the ground to sell them to make money, provide energy and feedstock, and the various roles and responsibilities of stakeholders and their inter-relationships. What is Petroleum Deve...

 From First Oil and Gas to LNG By Michael McWalter EDITOR’S NOTE: Michael McWalter, former Director, Petroleum Division and Adviser to the Government of Papua New Guinea, and erstwhile petroleum adviser to the governments of Ghana, Liberia, Cambodia, São Tomé, and South Sudan, recalls the foundations of petroleum resource development in Papua New ...

Papua LNG is a significant liquified natural gas (LNG) project for Papua New Guinea (PNG). Led by TotalEnergies, it will develop the Elk/Antelope gas fields in the Gulf of Papua, which hold large gas resources, the energy equivalent of more than one billion barrels of oil. Intended to be the country's second LNG project, Papua LNG promises a lot, inclu...

Papua New Guinea (PNG) marks half a century of independence this year, a journey defined by cultural resilience, political milestones, and the transformation of its resource-driven economy.  From shedding colonial rule in 1975 to emerging as a strategic player in regional diplomacy and climate advocacy, PNG’s story is a tapestry of triumphs and challen...

 Michael McWalter picks up his prior discussions of petroleum sector reform (Issue No. 3 2024) and describes in more detail exactly what a Production Sharing Contract, or what a PSC, is all about. In my commentary of PNG Business News, Issue 2, 2023 entitled: Petroleum Sector Reform for Papua New Guinea, I wrote about the need to apply better governan...

By: Niki Alsford Niki Alsford is Professor of Anthropology and Human Geography, and Director for the Institutes for the Study of the Asia Pacific (ISAP) at the University of Central Lancashire. He is Research Associate at SOAS, the University of London and Associate Member of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford. ...

Commentary by: Michael McWalter Michael McWalter explains the important responsibility to care for the vast amount of petroleum data submitted to the Government by operating petroleum companies and for the need for the establishment of a National Petroleum Data Centre in Papua New Guinea to cater for the vast amount of information arising from petroleu...

As the pandemic recedes and gradually fades from people’s memories, travel in the Pacific is rebounding. However, the Pacific’s travel recovery is highly variable. Comparing visitor arrivals in 2023 with those in 2019 (Figure 1 below), it looks like Vanuatu is the biggest winner, but this is misleading. Vanuatu has experienced a surge in cruise tourism...

by Rishabh Mukerjee, Helmtrude Sikas Iha and Damaris Warambukia Coffee is one of the most important smallholder cash crops in Papua New Guinea. It accounted for US$156 million of export earnings, 13% of agricultural export revenues, and 1.4% of total export revenues in PNG in 2021. According to the PNG Rural Household Survey 2023, approximately 55% of ...

Commentary by: Michael McWalter Michael McWalter explains the important responsibility to care for the vast amount of petroleum data submitted to the Government by operating petroleum companies and for the need for the establishment of a National Petroleum Data Centre in Papua New Guinea to cater for the vast amount of information arising from petroleu...

In Part I, we read about the signs of oil and gas throughout Papua New Guinea that enticed many oilmen to look for large oil and gas fields over many decades, and we read about the first commercial oil discovery at the Iagifu 2-X well and how the Kutubu field was successfully developed.  We now pick up the story where subsequent exploration wells found ma...

by Henry Ivarature On 7 December 2023, the prime ministers of Australia and Papua New Guinea signed an historic security agreement in Canberra. It has taken approximately three years to conclude since both countries signed the Comprehensive Strategic and Economic Partnership on 5 August 2020, which committed the parties to develop a bilateral security ...

Michael McWalter, former Director, Petroleum Division and Adviser to the Government of Papua New Guinea and erstwhile petroleum adviser to the Governments of Ghana, Liberia, Cambodia, Sao Tome,  and South Sudan comments on the evolution of Papua New Guinea’s oil and gas industry and how Papua New Guinea has fostered the industry into some of its largest i...

EDITOR’S NOTE: Michael McWalter, former Director, Petroleum Division and Adviser to the Government of Papua New Guinea, and erstwhile petroleum adviser to the Governments of Ghana, Liberia, Cambodia, Sao Tome, and South Sudan, comments on PNG’s oil and gas industry and changes to the petroleum regime made, muted, abandoned and planned. Optimising Benef...

by Andrew Anton Mako Blessings The Porgera goldmine in Enga Province offered so much promise when it began production in 1990 – a modern way of life and improved living standards for the landowners and surrounding communities, with access to modern health, education, and other social services. Before the closure of the mine in April 2020, it had pro...

Article by Lotte Schou-Zibell, Arndt Husar The Internet of Things—a rapidly growing network of connected devices—can help bring financial services to those most in need. The Internet-of-Things (IoT), defined as “software, sensors and network connectivity embedded in physical devices, buildings and other items that enable those objects to collect and...