Supreme Court to make ruling, Telikom PNG cuts fixed-line call services, and a Total delegation readies to talk Papua LNG. The business news you need to kickstart your week.

A map showing the proximity of PNG’s two LNG projects. Credit: InterOil

National

PNG’s Supreme Court will rule on the legality of the 17 November sitting of Parliament on Wednesday this week. The ruling follows legal presentations last week from PNG’s Opposition, which is attempting to replace the Marape government.

The court ruling is expected to determine when Parliament will next sit and under what conditions. (Various sources)

***

PNG will receive US$100 million (K350 million) policy-based loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help to improve the ‘operational performance and financial sustainability of state-owned enterprises (SOE)’.

The loan is part of the PNG SOE Reform Program, which aims to help SOEs deliver ‘high-quality services at affordable prices’. According to a statement, the program is set to reduce unsustainable borrowing practices, improve accountability and transparency, and encourage private sector participation in service delivery.  (Devdiscourse)

***

The ADB also approved a US$250 million (K877 million) loan to help PNG in its COVID-19 response. ‘ADB is committed to supporting the government in responding to this pandemic. These funds will help in containing the health and economic impact of the pandemic by strengthening the country’s health sector and providing much-needed budgetary support for revitalising the economy.’ (Post-Courier)

Resources

A high-level delegation from Total will be in PNG this week to discuss the Papua LNG project. Prime Minister Marape said that representatives from ExxonMobil and Oil Search will join the discussions. ‘The Total delegation will arrive in the country in the next two weeks and myself and Minister Kua will sit with them for them to tell us what the exact timeline of Papua LNG is going forward,’ Marape reportedly said. (The National)

***

Kina Petroleum Corporation has applied to be delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange and PNG’s National Stock Exchange. The Board of Directors cited small trading volumes, inability to raise capital at prices commensurate with underlying value, minimal liquidity and high ongoing costs as the reasons for applying for delisting. (PNGX)

***

Santos announced it has upgraded its 2020 production guidance from 83-to-88 mmboe to 87-to89 barrels of oil and lowered production cost guidance to US$8-US$8.50 barrels of oil. The change in production represents a 15 to 18 per cent production growth for the year. Santos also mentioned that its PNG LNG produced 30 per cent above nameplate capacity ‘without additional significant capital’. (The National)

At our annual Investor Day, we upgraded our 2020 production guidance, outlined the strength and resilience of our business and gave important project updates for our assets across the portfolio.

Read more here: https://t.co/omEEgLyfFe#proudlyaustralian #naturalgas pic.twitter.com/I5aCuNGLSr

— Santos (@SantosLtd) December 2, 2020

Telecommunications

Telikom PNG has halved the price of domestic fixed-line call services. Calls to Bmobile numbers will also drop 50 per cent during peak hours. Fixed-line calls to Digicel numbers remain unchanged. (EMTV)

Banking

Credit: National Development Bank via Facebook

The National Development Bank (NDB) has told entrepreneurs to wait until next year to apply for the four new products developed under the government’s K80 million MSME credit facility. The NDB is encouraging those interested in applying for a loan to first familiarise themselves with basic financial literacy and get their paper ready to provide records and cash flow. ‘Full disclosure of the terms and conditions of the MSME products will be published in the first quarter of 2021,’ said the bank. (The National)