From 1st November fully vaccinated passengers have been able to fly into Sydney and travel to NSW, Victoria and ACT but presently have to home quarantine for three days. You can transit domestically to your home location after landing in Sydney, by car or air, before entering into the three days of home quarantine. From 15th December, this will also apply for those travelling to Tasmania. From Monday 13th December, international arrivals into Queensland can home quarantine for 14 days, in lieu of hotel quarantine. Presently this is based on; • That you are fully vaccinated • This being your “normal” registered place of residence (so Air BNB etc doesn’t work) • There is no requirement to enter via a common area or use a common area ( so normally this has to be a free standing house/townhouse, and an apartment unlikely to be acceptable) • All persons residing in the home also need to quarantine for the full 14 days (so if an arrival is moving into their home, their husband/wife/children living there also need to remain in home quarantine for the 14 day period) • You can catch one onwards domestic flight to your final destination from Brisbane Airport, prior to entering home quarantine. All passengers arriving into Queensland must complete the Queensland International Arrivals Registration online, prior to travel. The form is at https://www.qld.gov.au/internationalarrivalstoqld/registration Once Queensland hits 90% of the population fully vaccinated , all international arrival restrictions will cease. Queensland Health are presently predicting this to occur in early January. At present inbound passengers into Cairns remain banned until the end of 2021 but Air Niugini operates a weekly Saturday flight (principally for freight) for passengers wishing to travel Cairns to Port Moresby, and has scheduled a second weekly flight from 15th December. Frequency will be increased subject to demand All passengers departing internationally will still need to complete a negative PCR test at Port Moresby airport at time of check-in. Access to testing closes two hours prior to scheduled departure. Wearing of face masks in the terminals and on board the aircraft is mandatory, hand sanitisers are provided for your protection, and social distancing is followed wherever practical in order to ensure your international travel remains as safe as possible.

Ela Murray International School has collected and wrapped over 200 gifts to give to the all the Children in theat Port Moresby General Hospital. This was an initiative of their School Parent Group TEMIS to encourage their students to share the love this Christmas especially with children at the hospital. TEMIS Parent Group Chairlady Ms. Melissa Belford said, “On behalf of the TEMIS Parent Group, we feel so blessed to be part of the Xmas Giving program for Pomgen.“ “We are also very grateful to our TEMIS families and their contribution because we could not have done it without them.“ TEMIS Parent Group Vice - Chairlady Ms. Jane Grasso added, “We are so grateful to the generous parents who donated all these gifts for such a worthy cause. I hope it lights up the children’s little faces when they open them." Ms. Naarai Banam, co-founder of Friends of Pom Gen, was on hand to receive the gifts, “We would like to say a huge thank and extend our sincere appreciation to Ela Murray International for your support. It’s a tremendous effort from the TEMIS Parent Group. A very Merry Christmas to our friends at Ela Murray International School”.

Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) today announced the appointment of three new directors by its majority shareholder the Kumul Minerals Ok Tedi Ltd (KMOTL) which owns 67% of the Company. Joining the OTML Board are Ms Nellie James who serves as Chair of Kumul Minerals Holdings Limited (the parent company of KMOTL), Mr. Bonny Ninai who serves as Chair of KMOTL and Dr. John Kuwimb who is the Acting Managing Director of Kumul Minerals Holdings Limited. OTML also announced that KMOTL have appointed Dr. Roger Higgins as the new Chair of the OTML Board of Directors following the recent retirement of Sir Moi Avei in August this year. Dr. Higgins is not new to Ok Tedi having served on the Board as an Independent Director since 2014, and as Chair of the Board’s Safety, Health, Environment and Community (SHEC) Committee. He was also a former Manager of OTML’s Environment Department, led our strategy and logistics teams, and served as Managing Director of Ok Tedi from 1997 to 2001. “Given his extensive international mining experience in senior executive roles working in Australia, Canada, Chile, PNG and the United States, we look forward to Dr. Higgins’ stewardship,” OTML Managing Director and CEO Musje Werror said. Dr. Higgins commented: “I recognise that being appointed as Chair of Ok Tedi Mining is a privilege, and I will put my efforts towards supporting the Ok Tedi leadership team, and to helping realise the best benefits for Ok Tedi’s stakeholders.” Mr Werror welcomed Dr. Higgins and the Directors to the Ok Tedi family. Picture: New Chair of OTML Dr. Roger Higgins

Aiyura School of Excellence, formerly Aiyura National High School received a new 25-seater bus early this month from Petroleum Resources Gobe (PRG) and Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC). The donated bus will ensure the 600-plus students attending the school are transported safely to their respective provinces when the school’s academic year closes. The School of Excellence, in Eastern Highlands province, currently enrolls 40 students from Gobe, in Grades 11 and 12. Mathew Sisimolu, Chairman of PRG said PRG’s focus is on supporting education. [caption id="attachment_17542" align="aligncenter" width="673"] PRG Chairman Matthew Sisimolu together with the staff and student representative from Aiyura School of Excellence receiving the bus keys from Ela Motors Goroka Branch Manager.[/caption] “Investing in education has always been one of our key focus areas and while PRG continues to support our students’ access quality education, the company is committed to continue supporting our education institutions with impact projects that will add value to our students’ education,” said Mr Sisimolu. Since last year, with the support of MRDC, PRG has signed an agreement with ASE paving the way for successful students at Gobe Agro High School, who meet the required marks to continue their secondary education at Aiyura School of Excellence. [caption id="attachment_17543" align="alignnone" width="724"] The new 25 seater bus donated by PRG to the Aiyura School of Excellence.[/caption] “This relationship is vital as it supports our focus in developing the human resource of Gobe and we will continue to support the school.” Karl Puluma, Principal of Aiyura School of Excellence welcomed the donation of the bus by PRG. Mr Puluma said the bus will be used to repatriate students back to their homes at the end of school year, and will also be used to support the school’s operations next year. “The board, management and students of ASE are thankful to PRG & MRDC for this kind gesture. The bus will not only benefit the Gobe students but all students from all over PNG that enrolls at Aiyura School of Excellence,” said Mr Puluma.

Buk bilong Pikinini (BbP) has just finished a week of graduation ceremonies for the more than 1000 children who have attended the organisation’s Early Childhood Education program in 2021. While everyone can agree that education is a good thing, it is equally important to ensure that the children have the correct tools to support their education. Without the tools for a standard education, schools cannot keep students engaged. Literacy is indeed hands-on and students need reading books, pencils, exercise books, backpacks, rulers and pencil cases to help with their learning and overall literacy acquisition. The Nambawan Trophy Limited (NWTL) has been supporting BbP with volunteers and the donation of food items and treats for a number of large events for the last couple of years. The volunteer group has this year donated more than 8000 pencils, 500 ball pens, 900 rulers, 2900 exercise/notebooks, 700 backpacks and 2900 pencil cases valued at K40,000. Children enrolled in BbP’s programs have each received a backpack, a pencil case, exercise books and stationery and are now ready to enrol at school next year. BbP Executive Officer, Leanne Resson said: “We are so grateful to NWTL for this extra special educational gift for the children enrolled at our Library Learning Centres across PNG. It will greatly motivate them in their learning knowing they have the right tools to get their work done. We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with the NWTL to improve education outcomes and literacy rates across PNG.” BbP Founder and Chairlady, Anne-Sophie Hermann said: “Basic needs like pencils, pens, paper and textbooks and even more so pencil cases and backpacks can be so difficult for struggling families to supply for their children. This lack of materials can lead to absenteeism and illiteracy so we are incredibly grateful to the NWTL for this most thoughtful gift for the children in our program. Education and its resources encourage a life-time of problem-solving for young learners.” NWTL’s CSR Chairlady, Yolande Saesaria said: “During these uncertain times, as a responsible corporate citizen, the NWTL Group is proud to be associated with Buk bilong Pikinini in ensuring that our children in communities are provided stability and ease in their learning and development. Our future depends on the upcoming generation and as a company, we value our staff who belong to communities across the nation, we recognize that our staff are also fathers and mothers who give their best for their children every day when they come to work. We trust that this sponsorship enhances the great learning experiences the children gain from the amazing work BbP continues to deliver across the nation.”

Transparency International PNG (TIPNG) in partnership with the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) School of Law has commenced its 2021-2022 Legal Internship Program (LIP) with the 5th cohort of interns starting on Monday 29th November 2021. Through the LIP, TIPNG is able to offer 3rd and 4th Year UPNG Law School students the opportunity to gain valuable work experience as part of its mission to empower people in Papua New Guinea to take action against corruption. “TIPNG values the opportunity to work with Papua New Guinea’s next generation of legal professionals through the LIP. Over the course of the 2-month internship, the UPNG Law School students will be engaged in a variety of activities to hone their academic skills, expand their professional network and meaningfully contribute to addressing corruption in our country." "This innovative partnership, now in its fifth year has matured into a fixture of TIPNG’s annual calendar and provides much needed support in our ongoing anti-corruption efforts,” said Ms. Arianne Kassman, TIPNG Chief Executive Officer, in a media statement. From a total 73 applicants applied for the LIP 2021-2022, the following three UPNG Law School students were selected for the internship program: • Ms. Jasmine Murray, 3rd Year LLB • Mr. Lloyd Kombe, 3rd Year LLB • Ms. Andrea Marru, 3rd Year LLB The LIP Interns will primarily assist TIPNG’s Anti-Corruption Helpdesk (AnCoHD). The AnCoHD is a free public service offered by TIPNG whereby victims and witnesses of corruption in Papua New Guinea can anonymously seek legal advice and assistance in person, via email, social media, or by calling the AnCoHD toll-free number 180 6000. In addition to assisting TIPNG’s AnCoHD, the legal interns will be given the opportunity to support TIPNG’s other functions which include; Policy, Advocacy, Communications, Events, Partnerships, Finance and Administration. Since beginning in 2018, a total of 14 interns that have successfully completed the LIP. TIPNG recently extended its partnership with the UPNG School of Law, through the signing in October 2020 of a 5-year Memorandum of Understanding from 2020-2024.

Further to previous updates, the National Airports Corporation (NAC) has advised that the completion of runway works at Lae (Nadzab) and Kavieng airports have been delayed into 2022. Kavieng is now expected to return to Fokker jet operations around the third week of January (instead of this month), whilst jet services to Nadzab are expected to resume in April 2022 (instead of January). Due to the shortened runways at these two airports, Air Niugini services to both Lae and Kavieng are currently being operated by the smaller Q400 and Dash-8 aircraft from Link PNG. This will now continue through the peak travel period. Air Niugini regrets the inconvenience to the travelling public during the peak travel season, however safety of operations remains our primary concern. We look forward to resuming our Fokker jet operations to both Lae and Kavieng as soon as the runway maintenance and upgrading works are completed.

SUMMARY The PNG Forest Authority and JICA signed a Record of Discussion of a new forest project called “Capacity Development project for reducing carbon emissions from forest degradation through commercial logging in PNG” on Tuesday 7th December 2021, . This project has now commenced after RD signing and will be implemented for 3 years upon the arrival of a Japanese expert in the first quarter of 2022. Project Details: The new forest project aims at strengthening the capacity of stakeholders to implement proper logging operations and natural regeneration under the procedures such as the Logging Code of Practice (LCoP) in order to improve the situation of forest degradation, promote low emission logging and ensure that these activities are properly implemented in the field. At COP26, the United Nations climate change conference held in the United Kingdom in November 2021, the outcome document was released stating that efforts will be made to limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The role of PNG, with its vast tropical rainforests, is significant and is attracting attention from around the world. In order to contribute to the achievement of this goal, JICA has agreed to contribute as one of the ways to solve problems through this project. JICA has been working in partnership with PNGFA since 2011 to address Forest Management and will continue its cooperation through this new project.

The official launching of the Online Results for grade 10's and grade 12's took place today at the Port Moresby National School of Excellence. This was followed by the announcement of the top performing schools in the country. Following is the list of schools that topped the Grade 10 National Examination for both public and private school respectively; GRADE 10 - SYSTEM SCHOOLS (BOTH GOVT & CHURCH AGENCY) 1. St Charles Lwanga Secondary School – NCD 2. Cameron Secondary School – MBP 3. Marianville Secondary School – NCD 4. Gordons Secondary School – NCD 5. Busu Secondary School –MOROBE 6. Mercy (Yarapos) Secondary School – ESP 7. Kuiaro Technical High – MBP 8. Kundiawa Lutheran Day Secondary School – SIMBU 9. Vanimo Secondary School – WSP GRADE 10 – PRIVATE PERMITTED SCHOOLS 1. PNG Paradise Secondary School – NCD 2. St. Josephs International Catholic College – NCD 3. OLSH International School – NIP 4. Kopkop College – NCD 5. Port Moresby Grammar School – NCD Most improved schools for this year were also recognised for their efforts. Following are the five most improved schools in the grade 10 category. MOST IMPROVED SCHOOLS (Gr. 10 category) 1. Kiripa High School – WHP 2. Brandi Secondary School – ESP 3. Tabubil Secondary School – WESTERN 4. Malala Secondary School – Madang TOP 10 – SYSTEM SCHOOLS (Govt & Church Agency) 1. Marianville Secondary School – NCD 2. Mt Hagen Secondary School – WHP 3. St Charles Lwanga Secondary School – NCD 4. Busu Secondary School – MOROBE 5. Lihir Secondary School – NIP 6. Oksapmin Secondary School – ESP 7. St Ignatius Secondary School – ESP 8. Paglum Secondary School – WHP 9. Cameron Secondary School –MBP 10. Arawa Secondary School – AROB The following are the top performing schools in the Grade 12 National Examination for this year; TOP 6 PERFORMING NATIONAL SCHOOLS OF EXCELLENCE (Formerly National High Schools) 1. Passam NSOE – ESP 2. Port Moresby NSOE – NCD 3. Wawin NSOE – MOROBE 4. Kerevate NSOE – ENB 5. Aiyura NSOE – EHP 6. Sogeri NSOE – CENTRAL TOP 5 BEST PERFORMING PRIVATE SCHOOLS (Grade 12 category) 1. PNG Paradise College - NCD 2. OLSH International School - NIP 3. St Josephs International Catholic School - NCD 4. Goroka Grammar School -EHP 5. Port Moresby Grammar School – NCD MOST IMPROVED SCHOOLS (Gr.12 category) 1. Tokarara Secondary School - NCD 2. Kundiawa Lutheran Day Secondary School - SIMBU 3. St Mary’s (Asivitavi) Secondary School - AROB 4. Tabubil Secondary School - WESTERN 5. St Gabriel’s Technical Secondary School - WESTERN “Despite having to close schools for 3 weeks in the middle of the year due to Covid-19 Pandemic, the students have done extremely well.” “This year, we have decided to have to have 3 Separate Categories for ranking the top performing schools in the country.” “Especially for the Gr. 12's, we have a category for the Public System schools, the Schools of Excellence and the new Category for the private schools,” said Education Department Secretary Dr. Uke Kombra. Even though there were suggestions to close schools during the recent surge of Covid-19, the department disagreed and kept schools open so students can continue learning while adhering to the covid protocols. Schools were advised to provide water for washing hands and hand sanitizers whilst mask wearing was mandatory in schools. Top Performing schools and most improved schools were awarded certificates by the department of Education which was presented to them today. Dr Uke Kombra thanked all teachers and staff for their hard work all throughout the academic year and wished them all a successful year for 2022.  

Despite the challenges posed by venue closures and other covid restrictions ,Athletics PNG proudly and successfully staged the PNG Air National Track and Field Championships in Kimbe last weekend. Thanks to support from PNG Air and Team PNG sponsor Kumul Consolidated Holdings, APNG were able to fly all of their top PNG based athletes to the event to ensure that they all had a chance to stake their claim for a place in the National team next year.The standout athlete for the Men was Daniel Baul, who ran a blistering 47.1 seconds in his heat of the 400m. It was the equal second fastest hand-held time by any PNG athlete - joining Subul Babo and Baobo Duaba-Neuendorf on the All Time Best List. Daniel followed up this superb performance with a time of 47.5 in the final. Crossing the line shortly after Daniel were Adolf Kauba (48.6), Jobbie Kinzu (49.2) and Jonah Theo (49.4). With the strong showing at home, and in the US, the PNG Men’s 400m Relay Team looks to be in good shape for Saipan next year. In addition, Daniel Baul won the 100m Hurdles (15.4), 400m Hurdles (53.8) and the 200m (21.8) events. In the 200m final the placegetters were Terrence Talio (21.9) and Paias Wisil (21.9) making for an exciting tight finish to the race.Pre race favourite Baul ran very relaxed for the first 150m before sprinting past three athletes to claim the gold medal. Significant performances came from the middle and long distance men with George Yamak getting a personal best in the 1500m with a time of 4:02.1, moving him even closer to breaking the national record of 4:00.02 held by Sebastian Sena from 1997. Yamak’s time would have been good enough to win gold in this event in the 2019 Apia Pacific Games. Aquila Turalom was second with a significant personal best time of 4:04.9 which is five second improvement his previous best time of 4min 9 seconds that he recorded in Port Moresby in July Adolf Kauba was the winner of the 800m event in the time of 1:56.8 from Samuel Pai (1:57.5) and Aquila Turalom (1:58.4). Also running faster than the gold medal winning time in Apia was Siune Kagl who narrowly won the 5000m and 10000m metres from relative newcomer Dilu Goiye. Both Siune (33:12.7) and Dilu (33:14.6) were much faster than PNG’s gold medal winning time in Apia. PNG swept the medals in that race with Simbai Kaspar taking gold in 33:34.90. Kagl also won the 5000m narrowly from Dilu Goiye in the time of 15:43.9 which was faster than the gold medal time of 15:45.54 by Samuel Aragaw from French Polynesia. Dilu, also faster than the Apia gold medal winner had the time of 15:44.1.The Men’s Distance Programme is certainly producing good results. The Men’s sprints saw many fine performances from the domestic athletes. It must be remembered that many of the top PNG athletes are at present studying in the USA. The list of up-and-coming sprint contenders is large and impressive. Paias Wisil is carrying on the family name with his good win the 100m in the time of 10.5 seconds. He narrowly won from Chabby Solomon (10.6), Terrence Talio (10.7) and Graham Bai (10.7). Johnny Bai, the son of former champion and Pacific Games gold medal winner, Geoffrey Bai. Johnny a won the 400m event in the time of 52.1 seconds and also took out the U18 Mens 100m and won the open B division race in the 200m. In the field events one of the outstanding performances came from the national record holder in the Javelin – Lakona Gerega. His winning throw of 61.78m was not far from his record of 64.89m. In the jumps there were good contests between Eldan Toti and Karo Iga. Eldan won the Long Jump (6.83m) from Karo (6.54m) while in the High Jump Karo was the winner on countback with a height of 1.90m with the same height for Eldan. As expected, the standout performance for the women came from Toea Wisil who won the 100m in the time of 11.5 seconds. Behind her came Edna Boafob (12.20) and Adrine Monagi (12.30). Toea withdrew from the 200m and 400m finals with a sore knee but showed that she still is the best in the Pacific Islands – by a wide margin. In the absence of Toea, Edna was the winner of the 200m in the time of 25.7 seconds, from Adrine Monagi (26.0) and Serah Neuendorf (26.4). Serah had a busy programme competing in the 100m, 200m, 400m 100m Hurdles and 400m Hurdles. Adrine Monagi was a clear winner in the 100m Hurdles in the time of 14.8 seconds. In the 400m Edna Boafob won a tight race in 58.30 seconds from Serah Neuendorf (59.80) and young Patricia Kuku (60.1) who was the standout performer of the large WNB team. In the middle-distance events Scholastica Herman won both the 800m (2:28.0) and the 1500m (5:11.50). The most successful distance runner was Ongan Awa with convincing wins in the 5000m (20:17.9) and the 10000m (43:46.8). National Record holder Sharon Toako won the Discus with a throw of 36.89m and the holder of the National Record for the Hammer Throw, Jackie Traverts won her event with the distance of 30.12m. Vivian Tutuai was a double winner with good performances in the Long Jump (4.57m) and the Triple Jump (10.25m). By holding the National Championships in Kimbe, it was a wonderful opportunity for many of the local WNB athletes to compete and stake their claim to representative teams in the future. PNG is lucky to have such a great venue as the Sasindran Muthuvel Stadium in Kimbe.

With the PNG Electoral Roll Update exercise further deferred to December 2021 and January 2022, Transparency International PNG (TIPNG) is now calling the PNG Electoral Commission (PNGEC) and the 22 Provincial Administrations across PNG to urgently establish active Provincial Election Steering Committees (PESCs). In a statement, TIPNG stated that proper arrangements need to be put in place now to avoid the risk of excluding a large segment of unregistered and first-time voters wanting to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming 2022 National General Elections. TIPNG has carried out provincial election awareness and community outreach and when in the various provinces, it learnt that with only 20 weeks remaining before the scheduled issue of writs for the 2022 National Elections, a majority of provinces have yet to establish functioning PESCs. TIPNG Board Chairman Peter Aitsi said according to Section 3 of the PNGEC terms of reference for Provincial Elections Steering Committees, PESCs are established for the purpose of “building local capacity and coordinating resources across government to assist the PNGEC in planning and delivery of the elections in the province, including electoral roll maintenance and community awareness.” Apart from key government departments within a province, a functioning PESC must also include at least one representative from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Chamber of Commerce, and Churches within the province. “The role of effective PESCs within the scope of national election coordination is absolutely crucial. It is very concerning to learn that with only five short months remaining before the issue of writs, many provinces are still a long way from where they need to be in terms of coordination and preparedness. Furthermore, the ongoing delay to the electoral roll update exercise is very concerning. More effective collaboration between government and other key community stakeholders is crucial if we are to deliver a successful election, and the PESC is currently the most effective framework for facilitating this collaboration.” He further added that the effectiveness of the PESC model has been clearly demonstrated in examples such as the East New Britain (ENB) PESC. “Earlier this year the need for additional resources was identified and arrangements were made to provide these resources through the Provincial Administration.” ENB has since completed updating its provincial electoral roll and is now ready for the next phase of the National General Elections in 2022. Other provinces such as Milne Bay have now proposed the use of updated ward registry data to speed up the Electoral Roll update exercise within the province.” “While the timeframe is less than ideal, we believe that there are ways that we can make a comprehensive roll update possible. PESCs need to be a lot more active in convening and assessing the opportunities available to them in their respective provinces, and acting on these opportunities for the sake of our people. The conduct of the elections is not the sole responsibility of the PNGEC. We must all play our part and take ownership of this democratic process, to ensure a better future for our people and our communities.”

The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) has announced its decision on the Authorization Application by Santos Limited for its proposed acquisition of shares of Oil Search Limited. ICCC Commissioner and CEO, Paulus Ain said that after taking into consideration Santos’ authorization application and submissions including comments from relevant stakeholders and available market information, the ICCC noted that the acquisition of Oil Search by Santos will not seriously harm competition in any markets in PNG. Mr. Ain stated that it was important to state in the beginning the relevant law and the requirements of the law that the ICCC applied when making its decision and that this would help the public to appreciate the decision of the ICCC which is also based on its findings. He said Section 81 of the ICCC Act requires that the ICCC must be notified of a proposed merger or acquisition if it would cross either of the two mandatory notification thresholds being– 1. If the transaction value of the proposed merger or acquisition exceeds K50 million or 2. If the proposed merger or acquisition is likely to result in a market share increase of 50% or more of the acquirer. “This particular transaction crosses the transaction value threshold; hence Santos has rightfully notified the ICCC.” Mr. Ain added. The Commissioner further explained that once an authorization notification is lodged with the ICCC, the law requires that the ICCC must grant the authorization permitting the transaction to proceed, if it is satisfied that – 1. the acquisition will not have the effect, or will not be likely to have the effect, of substantially lessening competition in a market, or 2. although the acquisition will have the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market, it will result in net public benefit. “If either of the above are not satisfied, the ICCC must decline to authorize the acquisition.” The law also stated that if the first requirement is met, then it is not necessary for the ICCC to make assessments on the second requirement (on net public benefit). In such instances, a clearance must be granted under the authorization process. Mr. Ain said that the ICCC was satisfied that the Proposed Acquisition will not have, or will not be likely to have, the effect of substantially lessening competition in any market in PNG; hence this passes the first requirement. Therefore, the ICCC gave a Clearance for the proposed acquisition to proceed.” “The reason for this conclusion was that whilst Santos does not operate any major projects in PNG, it does have interests in various oil and gas projects in PNG and this is through joint venture arrangements.” “On the other hand, Oil Search has physical presence in PNG and operates various oil and gas projects and produces associated gases (natural gas) and crude oil from its oil fields. For Santos, there is no information suggesting that it does produce natural gas and/or crude oil in PNG.” “There is also no information suggesting that Santos directly competes with Oil Search in any projects in PNG. Therefore, the ICCC has considered that there is no real overlap in the business activities of Santos and Oil Search that can possibly raise any serious competition concerns in any markets in PNG if this acquisition proceeds.” Mr. Ain added that whilst this proposed acquisition is a huge transaction (in terms of monetary value), as far as the ICCC Act is concerned, it has satisfied the Clearance Test. The ICCC, therefore, gave Clearance on the 7th December, 2021 for the proposed acquisition to proceed.