ADDITIONAL FUEL SUPPLIES FINALLY ARRIVE

Additional aviation fuel and diesel fuel have finally arrived in country to address the current fuel shortage crisis. The shipment was recently discharged at NapaNapa just outside the city of Port Moresby, all thanks to new arrangements made under the Essential Services Act to address the fuel situation. The National Government through an NEC decision, mandated Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL) to find commercial solution to help the country manage the energy crisis. KPHL took over a shipment of fuel brought in by ExxonMobil, purchased in US dollars and sold to Puma Energy in Kina, for Puma to supply the country through its infrastructure network. The STI Seneca tanker berthed at NapaNapa on Tuesday 19th March to discharge 230, 000 bbls of diesel and 37,000 bbls of Jet A1 fuel into the Puma storage tanks. All fuel retailers and distributors are now encouraged to engage with Puma for distribution to customers. KPHL Managing Director, Wapu Sonk said that this is an historic import of petroleum products by Kumul Petroleum, marking the first time that the national oil company has participated in downstream business in its short 14-year history. KPHL plans to import more fuel in the same manner and assured the country that with KPHL, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and other fuel importers playing their part, the emerging fuel crisis should now ease off, and over time the market would return to normal. “We are grateful that the government has given Kumul Petroleum the mandate to initiate this activity,” said Mr. Sonk.

“Whilst we deal with the immediate supply issue, KPHL has also started working on building import infrastructure, especially for Jet A1, to be followed by diesel and petrol, to complement what is already available in the country, especially in Port Moresby. “

Meanwhile, KPHL intends to build infrastructures in Lae and other strategic locations around the country as a long term solution.