Kumul Petroleum Holding Limited has been asked to cease exploration, drilling and greenfield investments, the World Bank has released an economic update signalling economic slowdown in East Asian and Pacific economies, and K92 Mining has unveiled Q3 results above budget. Your weekly digest of business news.

During his Annual General Meeting, Prime Minister James Marape gave specific guidelines to the Board and management team of Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL), requesting the company ceases exploration, drilling and greenfield investments. Marape said this will allow KPHL to become an ‘anchor investment company participating in equity market and project investments, domestic projects or international projects’. (Post-Courier)

***

Last week, the World Bank released Weathering Growing Risks, its October 2019 economic update for East Asia and the Pacific. The update signals that the growth of developing East Asian and Pacific economies will slow from 6.3 per cent in 2018 to 5.8 per cent in 2019. This is due to a decline in export growth and manufacturing activity. The World Bank also suggests growth in the region will slow down in 2020 and 2021 to 5.7 and 5.6 per cent respectively. According to the report, ‘the ongoing US-China trade dispute, along with slowing global growth, also increase the need for countries in the region to undertake reforms to improve their productivity and boost growth.’ (World Bank)

***

K92 Mining Inc announced over-the-budget results for the third quarter (Q3) of 2019 from the Kainantu gold mine. The results exceed the budget by 14 per cent, with a Q3 production of 18,636 oz of gold; 209,287 lbs copper, and 5,284 oz silver for a total of 19,170 gold equivalent (AuEq) oz, this despite interruptions due to upgrades for the current expansion project.

According to a K92 statement, production for the first three quarters of 2019 is a record of 56,741 oz of gold, 735,160 lbs copper and 17,742 oz silver. K92 CEO and Director, John Lewins, said: ‘The mine has now produced 58,610 oz AuEq in the first three quarters of 2019, surpassing the 47,237 oz AuEq for the entire 2018, and is well on target to meet our increased guidance of 72,000 to 80,000 oz AuEq for 2019.’ (K92)

***

After a visit to China to meet with President Xi Jinping, Solomon Islands’ Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare, has signed several agreements, including one to join the Belt and Road Initiative. The visit came weeks after the Solomon Islands severed ties with Taiwan. (ABC)

***

PNG’s Coffee Industry Corporation Ltd (CIC) has  confirmed it has not paid its membership to the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) in two years. Papua New Guinea has been a member of the CIC since its independence in 1975 and, although it can’t vote or voice concerns given the lack of payment, the country still participates in international coffee events. For Ricky Mitio, PNG coffee pioneer and administrator, being voiceless in the ICO is a ‘disgrace’.

‘We are a coffee-producing nation and our voice is critical to the policy making decisions that [the] International Coffee Organisation undertakes to regulate the supply and demand on the global coffee market.’ (Post-Courier)

***

Governor Peter Numu is prioritising a five-year development plan for the Easter Highlands which aims to improve all links and roads in the province by 2022, EMTV reported. The province is a coffee-growing area with potential for agriculture but the lack of roads has had a detrimental effect in the region.

***

During the opening if the Pacific Week of Agriculture, which took place in Samoa from 30 September to 4 October, Samoan Deputy Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, highlighted that over the last few years the Pacific region has moved from a place where people ate mainly fresh produce to one where an excess of packaged and processed foods are consumed. Other delegates such as Kundhavi Kadiersan, Assistant Director of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), voiced similar concerns. PNG’s representative, Ruth Turia, said the region should ‘look first at the agriculture sector to guarantee food security’. (EMTV)

***

Last Friday, US President Donald Trump, after meetings with the Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He, announced in the Oval Office that both countries have reached a preliminary trade agreement. ‘We’ve come to a very substantial phase one deal,’ Trump asaid. ‘We’ve come to a deal, pretty much, subject to getting it written.’ (CNN)

***

Prime Minister James Marape has officially replaced Morobe Governor, Ginson Saonu, as leader of the Pangu Party, Papua New Guinea’s oldest surviving political party. (RNZ)

***

Photograph of the week

The Ok Tedi Mining team during the 2019 Extractive Emergency Response Challenge award ceremony. Credit: Ok Tedi Mining

This year PNG’s Chamber of Mines and Petroleum held the 2019 Extractive Emergency Response Challenge at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby. Ten mining and petroleum companies participated in the event which took place from 30 September to 2 October. The 2019 Champion of the PNG Extractive Emergency Response Challenge was Ok Tedi Mining Ltd. The event is run every two years to demonstrate the mining community’s commitment to safety in work environments.