ExxonMobil's 221st shipment of LNG from PNG's marine terminal drops sharply by 50%

 By Peter Kinjap

THE PNG LNG Marine Terminal in Port Moresby has seen a sharp drop of the LNG flow rate by 50% on its 221st shipment on Friday (12/08/16).
An ExxonMobil's marine supervisor, who wants to remain anonymous has confirmed that LNG shipment as of Friday experienced a reduction from 12,000 cubic meters/h to 6,000 m3/h when loading for the 221st shipment.
When asking about this reduction in half gas export, the marine supervisor at the terminal said its due to closing down of valves by Landowners at Hides resulting in reducing the flow rate.  
Gas valve stations of PDL 1 and PDL 7 in Hides remain closed until the government respond positively to the grievances of the disgruntled landowners.
Several meetings with the landowners by the Government in Hides and POrt Moresby recently have failed awaiting to a final next week.

ExxonMobil, the developer of PNG LNG project has been harshly criticized by major environmental advocacy groups among which are Greenpeace. In 2003, Greenpeace listed Exxon as #1 Climate Criminal. Exxon's alleged crimes include the sabotage of efforts to deal with climate change, the fraudulent manipulation of peer reviewed scientific studies and organizations, misleading and outright lying to the population of the USA, its government officials and the global community in general. It's also been accused of fomenting so called junk science in order to deny climate change and support the views of climate sceptics, among other actions.
Foreign business practices

Investigative reporting by Forbes Magazine raised questions about ExxonMobil's dealings with the leaders of oil-rich nations, including Papua New Guinea. ExxonMobil controls concessions covering 11 million acres (44,500 km²) off the coast of Angola that hold an estimated 7.5 billion barrels (1.2 km³) of crude. In 2003, the Office of Foreign Assets Control reported that ExxonMobil engaged in illegal trade with Sudan and it, along with dozens of other companies, settled with the United States government for $50,000.

In March 2003, James Giffen of the Mercator Corporation was indicted, accused of bribing President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan with $78 million to help ExxonMobil win a 25 percent share of the Tengiz oilfield, the third largest in the world. On April 2, 2003, former-Mobil executive J. Bryan Williams was indicted on tax charges relating to this same transaction. The case's the largest under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This series of events's depicted in the film Syriana.
In a US Department of Justice release dated September 18, 2003, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that J. Bryan Williams, a former senior executive of Mobil Oil Corporation, had been sentenced to three years and ten months in prison on charges of evading income taxes on more than $7 million in unreported income, "inclu-ding a $2 million kickback he received in connection with Mobil's oil business in Kazakhstan." According to documents filed with the court, Williams' unreported income included millions of dollars in kickbacks from governments, persons, and other entities with whom Williams conducted business while employed by Mobil. In addition to his sentence, Williams must pay a fine of $25,000 and more than $3.5 million in restitution to the IRS, in addition to penalties and interest.
ExxonMobil is America's multinational oil and gas company operating in more 50 countries mostly in Africa. 
Photo: Hides landowners in Hela last week waiting for the Government to pay their outstanding. Image: Supplied: