Puma Energy Papua New Guinea Photo: Facebook.com / Puma Energy Papua New Guinea
Papau New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape is promising to end the near monopoly that Puma Energy has on fuel supplies in the country.
PNG government finally moves to resolve fuel shortages
For more than a year, Puma has been struggling to bring in enough fuel to meet demand, leading to fuel stations running out, long queues by motorists and airlines cancelling flights.
Puma has blamed a lack of access to enough foreign exchange.
On Thursday, the government invoked the Essential Services Act aiming to end the shortages.
The Prime Minister said this will allow for emergency powers to compel fuel companies and the banking sector to operate in the best interests of PNG.
He has appointed his deputy, John Rosso, to oversee the changes, which include working with Puma, Exxon Mobil and TOTAL, along with the state's own Kumul Holdings Limited, to ease the immediate shortage.
This will include allowing other suppliers to use facilities at Puma's NapaNapa refinery.
In the meantime the prime minister said Exxon Mobil has already brought in additional fuel while the Australian government is providing assistance to bolster fuel security.
Marape is blaming the crisis on a 1999 agreement given to Puma's predecessor, Interoil, which gave it monopoly control of fuel imports and distribution.
He said the government is now looking to end that monopoly,
"We have this monopolistic arrangement with Puma having a substantial slice of our market but we are working through legal means to unbundle the monopoly," Marape said.
He said they will also be seeking assurance from the Bank PNG, the central bank, that there is sufficient supply of foreign exchange to the country's commercial banks.