This article is 20 years old. Images might not display.
Commissioner Thomas Abe said he did not have the power to review the 30-year agreement, which was signed with the Canadian company several years ago when the country was less economically stable, according to the Post Courier newspaper.
InterOil said it sourced crude oil from Oil Search’s operations in the Southern Highlands before refining it at its Napanapa refinery in Port Moresby, the country’s only refinery.
According to the paper, the agreement signed between InterOil and the PNG Government allows prices for fuel leaving the refinery to include the cost of shipping the oil from Singapore to PNG.
Speaking in Port Moresby on Wednesday, Abe said the oil trade was a “risky business” and certain mechanisms needed to be in place to protect InterOil’s investment.
The commission recently came under fire from the PNG National Research Institute (NRI) for allowing the recent sale of Shell PNG’s assets to InterOil, effectively giving InterOil a monopoly over the fuel refining industry in the country.
Prominent NRI researchers Dr James Yala and Ogis Sinida said the sale of Shell PNG to InterOil meant the company would control the processing and distribution market in PNG.
