‘Too early’ to identify cause of fire at country’s largest retailer’s headquarters and warehouse, assessment of submarine cable underway, and Competition Commission says InterOil takeover may affect market for pipelines. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

The country’s largest retail network, CPL Group is recovering from the devastation caused by fire at its headquarters and warehouse in Port Moresby at the weekend. Managing Director, Joe Barberis, reportedly told a media conference it was too early to establish the cause and the extent of damage. Trading on the stock exchange has halted, he said, to avoid speculation and to allow for the company to understand what happened.

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Work on assessing damage to the PPC1 submarine cable in Madang has started, says Telikom PNG Chief Technical Officer, Jeffrey Bean. He said the restoration time now depends on how far out to sea the fault is and the extent of the damage to the cable.

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A review of the acquisition of InterOil by ExxonMobil says it may affect competition in the market for pipelines and other field project facilities access, the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission CEO, Paulus Ain, told The National. ExxonMobil PNG says it is pleased the ICCC has concluded the takeover is not likely to substantially lessen competition in the domestic supply of natural gas.

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The Energy Department’s Kepsey Puiye. Credit: The National.

Landowners from the site of the PNG LNG project will get their benefits pending legal clearance from the State Solicitor’s office, the Department of Petroleum and Energy’s Acting Secretary, Kepsey Puiye, has told The National.

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Kumul Petroleum Holdings’ Managing Director, Wapu Sonk, reportedly said the set up of the Gas Projects Coordination Office (GPCO) will lead to setting up a Petroleum Resource Authority. Sonk said the GPCO was funded at a cost of around K3–4 million.

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ExxonMobil has recorded positive production test results from the Muruk 1 Sidetrack 3 well, located about 21 kilometres northwest of the Hides gas field. A company statement said the well successfully flowed gas at a rate of 16 million standard cubic feet per day.

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The PNG Extractive Industry Initiative reports that the total value of PNG’s mineral exports for 2014 was K17.522 million, or 12.7 per cent of total government revenue. The equivalent figure for the previous year was 7.5 per cent.

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Digicel Pacific CEO Michael Murphy says prospective entrepreneurs should make sure their product is ‘brilliant’ and that their customers identify with them. He was addressing participants at the 2017 Kumul Game Changers two-week boot camp.

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The construction of a new boat factory in Lae by Ela Motors is at its final completion stage. CEO, Keiichiro Kuwabara, told The Post -Courier that production is scheduled to start in late July or August this year. Last year, the factory of boat manufacturer, Samarai Plastics, the distributor of Yamaha boats in PNG, burnt down.

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And finally, UK start-up, bio-bean, is gathering waste from coffee chains and converting it into liquid fuel, as it prepares to unveil a coffee-run bus in London in the next few weeks. The BBC quotes entrepreneur Arthur Kay saying the process evaporates the grounds via a process known as hexane extraction, turning about 15–20 per cent into oil. The UK consumes 500,000 tonnes of coffee beans every year, equating to about 100,000 tonnes of fuel.