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The National Petroleum Authority Act 2025 creates the NPA as a statutory authority with a seven-person board, replacing what remained of the Department of Petroleum and Energy after the Energy wing was separated into the Department of National Planning and Monitoring in 2021. The NPA takes over licensing administration, contract negotiation oversight, royalty and tax coordination with the Internal Revenue Commission, and environmental/safety compliance monitoring (jointly with CEPA). The existing Petroleum Advisory Board continues under NPA oversight rather than direct ministerial oversight.
The most commercially significant provision is the new 0.5% gross-revenue levy on crude oil, natural gas, LNG, condensates, and LPG from all Petroleum Production Licence holders. At current LNG benchmark prices, PNG LNG (ExxonMobil operator, 8.3 Mtpa nameplate) and the upcoming Papua LNG (TotalEnergies, 4 Mtpa planned) generate combined gross sales revenue in the USD 8–12bn/yr range, implying approximately USD 40–60M/yr in new NPA-levy revenue at current prices. This levy is additive to existing PNG petroleum fiscal terms (corporate income tax, Additional Profits Tax, royalties, development levies, and equity-participation rights for the State, landowner groups, and Hela/Southern Highlands provincial governments under the PNG LNG Umbrella Benefit Sharing Agreement).
The companion Oil and Gas (Amendment) Act 2025 (passed 13 March 2025) amends the Oil and Gas Act 1998 to: (a) realign licensing procedures with NPA oversight; (b) update fiscal-stability and benefit-sharing provisions for Papua LNG and the P'nyang gas-field developments currently in pre-FID negotiations; and (c) modernise the framework for petroleum-production-licence renewals and extensions. Transitional provisions transfer staff and assets from the Department of Petroleum and Energy to the NPA; existing Petroleum Prospecting Licences, Petroleum Retention Licences, and Petroleum Development Licences continue under NPA administration without re-issuance.
provisions in the OGA amendment will be scrutinised by ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies against their existing project-level stability agreements. TotalEnergies' Papua LNG FID (4 Mtpa) expected 2026–27 and ExxonMobil's debottlenecking / Train 3 expansion discussions are contingent on fiscal predictability; the NPA institutional overhaul adds a new counterparty risk dimension.
Porgera) Amendment Act (51% PNG / 49% Barrick-Zijin restructuring) and the February 2025 Mining Bill 2025 consultation draft (parallel institutional reforms for the mining sector). The Marape government's "Take Back PNG" resource-nationalism agenda is now fully extended to the petroleum sector.
PNG LNG is one of Asia-Pacific's largest LNG facilities and Papua LNG is approaching FID. The NPA is the institutional peer of Mozambique's INP (filed 2026-05-07), Senegal's Petrosen, Brazil's ANP, and Namibia's NAMCOR — a global cohort of EM petroleum-regulator overhauls.
participation rights. Kumul Petroleum's shareholding in PNG LNG and MRDC's royalty-beneficiary roles across PNG resource projects will now be administered by the NPA board rather than direct ministerial oversight, potentially sharpening state commercial posture in upcoming licence renewals.
contest the 0.5% gross-revenue levy?
bankability requirements?
NPA institutional framework.
interference will determine whether the NPA replicates the governance quality of Brazil's ANP or follows the Mozambique INP path of opacity.