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According to PNG newspaper, The National, deputy prime minister and minister for petroleum and energy, Sir Moi Avei, signed the deal in Beijing last week after meeting with Chinese commerce vice-minister Zhang Zhigang.
Avei said CEEB would shortly be sending a technical team to the country to explore for minerals. But PNG Chamber of Minerals and Petroleum executive director Greg Anderson said success in minerals exploration was likely to lead to interest in petroleum developments.
Anderson said that successful commissioning of the $US1 billion Ramu project, expected later this year at a production rate of around 33,000t of nickel per annum, would provide encouragement for increased investment in the country.
“Certainly, if they build and develop the Ramu project successfully and they are going full-ball on it, that would give them confidence to undertake other projects both in mining and petroleum.
“There is certainly a very good business relationship developing between the two countries and I would see it emerging as a long-term resource partner for the country.”
The latest deal with a Chinese company follows last month’s announcement from PNG prime minister Michael Somare that he had received a proposal from China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to develop a liquefied natural gas plant in the country.
Anderson said he viewed the proposal as very encouraging but acknowledged there was a fair amount of work yet to be done before it would get off the ground.
“There have been a number of parties that the government has been talking to. An LNG plant is not a backyard barbecue. It is a bloody big deal and the gas supply has to be tied down, and of course a lot of the gas supply is committed to the gas-to-Queensland project,” he said.
“Building it on the north coast is a huge undertaking but certainly it is encouraging [that] the Chinese are interested in the hydrocarbons.”
