Joint venture elects Total as operator, PNG DataCo discusses Solomon Islands link, and WCB Resources lifts stake in gold project. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

French oil and gas major, Total SA, has been unanimously elected as the operator of the Elk-Antelope gas field by the participants of the PRL 15 joint venture, which includes InterOil Corp and Oil Search Ltd.

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PNG DataCo has begun discussions with the Solomon Oceanic Cable Company to link PNG with Solomon Islands and has signed a business partnership agreement with Inter Change of Vanuatu to build a link to Vanuatu. Chairman Reuben Kautu says he hopes the cables will be in place for the APEC meeting in Port Moresby in 2018.

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Vancouver-based WCB Resources Ltd has acquired an additional 19% interest in the Misima Island gold project in Papua New Guinea, taking its stake to 49%. Under an agreement, WCB can earn up to 70% of the project by spending A$9 million advancing the project over a four year period.

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Oil Search’s Peter Botten

Oil Search Ltd Managing Director Peter Botten says the expansion of ExxonMobil‘s PNG LNG venture and the Elk-Antelope LNG venture are economical even at prices ‘materially lower than current levels’, but says the projects need to be coordinated to avoid expensive overlaps in timing.

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A new research project is underway to plan how to develop value-adding products and create a successful SME domestic wood processing industry. The four-year project is led by the University of Melbourne, supported by the PNG Forest Authority and funded by ACIAR. The O’Neill government says it wants to have 80% of PNG logs processed onshore by 2030. At present, 20% is processed.

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Despite a slowdown in the PNG economy, Bank of South Pacific says it ‘achieved solid results’ in 2014, with the company reporting operating profit of K507.3 million, a 16.1% lift on the previous financial year.

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A group of IT specialists from Silicon Valley in the US will visit PNG in June to train 40 people during a three-day entrepreneurship boot camp, funded by the United Nations.

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Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill. Credit: PNG Blogs

PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has assured people in Chimbu that the Highlands Highway is the government’s most important infrastructure project in the Highlands region. The government is focusing on making the ‘truly functional’ after decades of neglect.

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Horizon Oil Ltd, which is a stakeholder in the Stanley gas project in Papua New Guinea, has reported a half year profit of US$7.34 million, improving from a loss in the previous six month period. After receiving the Stanley development licence, Horizon completed drilling of the Stanley-3 and Stanley-5 development wells during the half year.

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Performance at St Barbara Ltd’s Simberi gold mine in New Ireland province ‘improved dramatically’ in the second half of 2014 to be cash flow positive in December, the company says. On the back of the turnaround in performance, St Barbara anticipates production at the mine to increase to 100,000 ounces per annum.

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A China aid researcher, the Lowy Institute’s Philippa Brant, says China is on track to overtake Japan as the third largest aid donor in the Pacific. While Australia is still the largest donor, she says China was the largest aid provider to Fiji and the second-largest in Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands between 2006 and 2013.

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Fish gather next to an illegal fish aggregation device near Palau. Credit; Greenpeace

The Parties to the Nauru Agreement are meeting in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia, this month. A key move that will go to PNA fisheries ministers for final endorsement at the meeting is the plan to begin registration of and charging for use of fish aggregation devices (FADs) from January 1, 2016. FADs are rafts, placed by fishermen to try and increase their catches.

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The National Fisheries Authority (NFA) is to begin full-scale trials of an innovative monitoring system. The new system, which uses near real-time data through tablets and satellite transmitters, is expected to ‘enhance the quality, reliability, and timeliness of critical fisheries information, and will considerably improve the management of tuna stocks,’ the World Wildlife Fund said, which helped fund the equipment.

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Steamships Trading Company Ltd has recorded a profit of K88.7 million for the 12 months to December 2014, a 22.2% reduction against the same period a year earlier. Reflecting on the year, Steamships explained that trading conditions in PNG slowed, as expected, with the construction phase of the PNG LNG project coming to an end.

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Planting oil palms at Ramu. © NBPOL

An increase in shipped oil to customers and higher prices has helped New Britain Palm Oil Ltd to a 10.6% increase in revenues in the 2014 full year to US$617.9 million. The company’s profits were 574.6% higher to US$116.7 million.

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Indochine Mining Ltd has extended its secured loan facilities, with the repayment date now April 30 2015 and the limit increased to A$3.75 million. The company is aiming to develop the Mt Kare gold project in Enga Province.

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Village Garden Ltd chief financial officer Koren Maso believes Papua New Guinea has the potential to grow a super hybrid rice brought in from the Philippines. The company is part of a joint venture with local landowners in Central province.

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And finally… Digicel founder, Denis O’Brien, has been named by Forbes as the second wealthiest Irish citizen. According to the 2015 Forbes Rich List, O’Brien’s personal fortune stands at US$6.8 billion (K18 billion)—larger than PNG’s K16.2 billion 2015 national budget.