Papua New Guinea--Exxon--LNG--Corruption=The People Get Screwed

Landowners at Papua New Guinea's biggest resources project are threatening to create "chaos" if the PNG Government does not honour a deal to give them equity.

PNG Government-owned company Kumul Petroleum Holdings has withdrawn an offer to finance landowners' purchase of 4.27 per cent of the PNG LNG project, after some complained it was unfair.

The Government now says landowners need to find more than a billion US dollars to buy the equity before their option expires at the end of 2016.

PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said the state was offering a discounted price because the landowners were not able to raise the money.

"We are trying to help," he said.

"If they don't want our help we are quite happy to walk away, simple as that."

Mr O'Neill said the negotiations were becoming frustrating.

"I'm getting fed up talking about the same issue over and over again," he said.

"I think Papua New Guinea has got a lot more challenges, other issues that I can spend my time on."

Deal accused of being stacked against landowners

Landowners have been questioning the deal, saying it looked like the Government was trying to make them pay for a controversial loan it took to buy shares in Oil Search, one of the project partners.

Arthur Somare is the former State Enterprise Minister who helped negotiate the initial agreement with the landowners.

"Quite frankly the proposal in my view is just preposterous," he said.

"It is stacked up the wrong way against landowners, they were asked to take on a huge debt, a debt burden that currently sits with a state company."

Villagers from the highlands and the gulf regions of PNG are entitled to the opportunity to purchase equity in the PNG LNG project, as part of their original "umbrella benefits sharing agreement" to host it on their land.

Mr Somare — now a consultant for the provincial Governments and landowners — said the equity option was meant to be offered on what is called "benefit sharing terms", meaning the price and arrangements would be negotiated in a way that recognises landowners' rights to get a return from the project.

'Tremendous resentment and frustration'

Landowners are particularly worried about the Government's approach.

The chairman of one of the landowner groups, Stanley Hogga Piawi, said people will react badly if they do not get their share of the project.

"Governments can come and go, but the agreement must be maintained," he said.

"[The Government should] honour the previous government's agreement.

"My people must get the maximum benefit that has been sealed and signed.

"If you cannot honour that then I'm sorry, it's going to be chaos."

The landowners are already frustrated because the PNG Government has not yet paid their royalties and development grants.

In August some landowners blocked roads to the project's conditioning plant at Hides in protest at the lack of payments.

The Government has previously said the money has been held up by court proceedings and delays in landowner identification.

Australian National University PhD candidate Michael Main — who has just spent seven months in the project area studying the impacts of development — said people are getting sick of waiting for them.

"There's tremendous resentment and frustration directed almost exclusively towards politicians," he said

Mr Main said cash was not landowners' major concern — people wanted to know why the project has not brought much-needed services.

"Really what people were talking about was 'well, hang on, where's our first class hospital, where are our big high schools, where are our roads'?" he said.

"It's the tangible evidence on the ground of the development that's expected from the LNG project.

"That's going to be the defining issue, I think."

The operator of the PNG LNG project, ExxonMobil PNG, declined to comment.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-02/png-landowners-threaten-violence-if-lng-equities-not-paid/8088842

________________

There is no end to this, ...Big Energy..Exxon..Chevron...Petronas...Time and time again big energy makes promises to landowners and stakeholders and people in lands where they wish to extract fuel..

Third world countries remain third world countries, even countries like Australia, a modern first world country realizes LNG promises of riches are worth nothing.....At the end of this article is a surprise...What is the surprise....I caught the BC Liberals again giving away what's left of the farm to LNG companies....

Rich Coleman had Bill Bennett's statements about giving steep discounts for Site C Dam Power to the northern frackers edited out of the original article.....Find out why(below)

_____________

Western Australia calls for 'more scrutiny' on where LNG wealth is going

The Liberal government of Western Australia has questioned whether the nascent boom in liquefied natural gas is delivering "sufficient return" to the public.

As pressure builds at federal level for a parliamentary inquiry into the tax contribution of the multi-billion-dollar gas projects operating in Commonwealth waters, WA has added to growing concern over where the gas wealth being produced ends up.

WA Treasurer Mike Nahan is annoyed that billions of dollars spent by his state on infrastructure supporting LNG projects will not flow back to the state through the federally-imposed petroleum resource rent tax.

"WA would support further scrutiny into whether taxpayers are receiving a sufficient return on government support for offshore LNG projects," said Mr Nahan, who also holds the energy portfolio in the Barnett Government.

Fairfax Media revealed this week that by 2021, when Australia will eclipse Qatar as the world's biggest LNG exporter, less than $1 billion in PRRT revenue will flow into federal coffers.

Qatar, which imposes a flat royalty or takes a financial stake in its LNG projects, will receive $26.6 billion for the same volume of gas.

Just five per cent of oil and gas projects operating in Australia, paid any PRRT in 2014-15, according to the most up-to-date Australian Tax Office figures.

The 30 year-old North West Shelf venture operated by Woodside is the only LNG project that pays PRRT while Chevron's giant Gorgon plant and others are not expected to pay anything for "decades", according to some experts.

Treasurer Scott Morrison said he is taking advice on what he called a "sensitive tax matter" and Labor is currently discussing whether to put its weight behind a parliamentary inquiry already backed by the Greens.

A coalition of organisations, including the ACTU and Greenpeace, is calling for the inquiry to explore whether the PRRT needs to be tightened to ensure Australia reaps the benefits of the boom.

Concern is acute in LNG states like WA, which cannot levy a separate royalty on offshore gas.

The $3 billion WA expects to receive in iron ore royalties this year is twice the total the Commonwealth will take in PRRT from oil and gas projects nationwide.

"The state government incurs a wide range of costs as a result of these projects relating to town site development, schools, hospitals, community facilities and roads that are either directly associated with the project or arise from the economic and population growth accompanying the project but does not receive any PRRT revenue when they are in Commonwealth waters," he said.

WA estimates it spent $8 billion in infrastructure associated with the North West Shelf and receives an annual grant equivalent to two-thirds of the PRRT paid by the project, which is then reduced further by the GST distribution system.

The state expects a $482 million grant associated with the North West Shelf in 2016-17 but Mr Nahan said it would be more than wiped out by a $1.2 billion "grant loss" from GST.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/western-australia-calls-for-more-scrutiny-on-where-lng-wealth-is-going-20161012-gs0owi.html

_____________________

This readers is what big LNG is all about....Deliberate plant build cost blowout...Writing off over-inflated build costs, deducting every expense possible, ....Sucker governments spend $billions building infrastructure at the behest of energy giants, ...write bad economic agreements filled with monetary loopholes....

That is what we will have with Petronas....

BC Liberals are offering up Site C dam power to Petronas at a rate so low BC Hydro will never see a return..

BC Taxpayers/BC Hydro ratepayers are going on the hook for probably $15 billion dollars ....Why?

The BC Liberals are giving away absolutely everything including the finances of BC Hydro to Petronas... Why...

Because Petronas has the BC Liberals right where they want them, begging for an FID before election 2017....Christy Clark promised BC voters that LNG would bring 100,000 jobs...$100 billion dollar prosperity fund....eliminate BC's sales tax...pay for new schools and hospitals..

Now the BC Liberals are giving away another $15 billion dollar freebie to please Petronas...

The Vancouver Sun isn't talking about...Global TV isn't reporting it...silence from CTV..CBC..CKNW..

The BC Liberals are preparing to make BC Hydro build a $15 billion dollar Site C dam boondoggle for the expressed use of providing free electricity to Petronas..

The below article....Was published on December 1/2016.....in the original article...Bill Bennett said this, and I quote..

"BC Hydro will offer steep discounts for electricity to gas drillers"

However, after I reported on the Site C Dam power giveaway to gas drillers, ..after I reported what was being planned at BC Hydro ratepayers expense....All of a sudden the damning information was edited out, at the request of Rich Coleman...

now the article says this...at the very end..

"CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated the government was considering reduced BC Hydro rates for natural gas producers. This is not the case. In fact, they are considering incentives for producers to get onto the electricity grid. Those producers would continue to pay the same Hydro rate. We regret the error." - 

See more at: http://www.dawsoncreekmirror.ca/regional-news/lng/province-unveils-aggressive-plan-to-electrify-b-c-natural-gas-fields-1.3493881#sthash.q2halFuV.dpuf

http://www.dawsoncreekmirror.ca/regional-news/lng/province-unveils-aggressive-plan-to-electrify-b-c-natural-gas-fields-1.3493881

You see folks....Whenever I catch the BC Liberals plotting and planning to giveaway more of your tax dollars they try and hide from the facts, in this case denying the electricity giveaway...Bill Bennett was quoted in the original article as saying...

"Site C Electric Power, BC Hydro will offer steep discounts to northern gas drillers" 

need more proof...Here it is

Look at this....Look at this Tweet from Jonny Wakefield..

 

Jonny Wakefield‏@jonnywakefield

So this is a fairly big deal, if you pay attention to Canadian energy policy. #bcpoli #cdnpoli

• RETWEETS18
• LIKES10
• 

5:08 PM - 30 Nov 2016

____________________

Rich Coleman, After getting caught, after calling the editor to have Bill Bennett's own words omitted from the article....It doesn't matter folks, we know what dirty crony capitalist tricks the BC Liberals are pulling....

The article now says that gas drillers will pay the same industrial rates as mines and receive(unspecified incentives)......

Well folks...I have it on good authority that the incentives being offered is cash back...that's right, not credits...CASH....80% of the charged rate returned as cash...

By the way.....I reported Bill Bennett making the statements about steep discounts BC Hydro was offering the gas drillers on my last podcast...

Like I said.....Government, politicians, energy experts, industry and BC Poli watchers and spooks are all reading The Straight Goods....and now it's apparent the BC Liberals are listening to my podcasts too...Anywho, BC won't be selling LNG to Japan...Japan is now a LNG seller, not buyer..

http://www.gulf-times.com/story/523650/Qatar-seeks-new-LNG-demand-amid-global-supply-glut

And this...I discussed at length with Canadian Glen about the myth that LNG is clean..it isn't, this article confirms that LNG is a damn dirty fuel..

http://vancouversun.com/business/energy/b-c-to-fall-short-of-2050-greenhouse-gas-targets-by-wide-margin

After you read that Vancouver Sun article you will know why the BC Liberals are running another taxpayer funded ad campaign bragging about planting trees....The old carbon trading/credits by planting trees scam resurfaces...

Hope you enjot the podcast

2 hours of everything LNG..Here's the link..

http://blogtalk.vo.llnwd.net/o23/show/9/639/show_9639419_2016_
12_01_05_05_05.mp3


The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open