The National also reports that local transport operators are planning action against fuel price rises.

TRANSPORT operators in the country were yesterday talking about pulling their trucks off the road following the hefty increase in fuel prices approved by the Government this week. The industry also fears an upsurge in fuel theft along the Highlands Highway as the high prices would drive people to steal from trucks hauling fuel up the highway.

The Post Courier has dubbed interOil a "bad corporate citizen".

The recent action by InterOil is the behaviour of a typical monopolist. InterOil has held PNG to ransom at a time when there is a major natural disaster, which requires fuel for the urgent delivery of food and medical supplies.

The profit maximising 'needs' of a monopolist organisation should not be used to penalise the community when it comes to a fairly priced, consistent supply of fuel. This scenario highlights the need for competition by several suppliers, to prevent consumers from being held to ransom by one corporate entity.

The National has an article on the typical knee jerk response to oil price rises - government subsidies. If countries like Iran and India are finding they can't afford to subsidise fuel for locals any more, you can be sure PNG won't be able to.

Enga Governor Peter Ipatas has joined the call for the National Government to subsidise rising fuel prices. "So much surplus has been made from the oil and gas resources and if we rightly negotiate it, our fuel prices would be low." Mr Ipatas said the fuel price rise was causing a lot of injustice to the people because ordinary people would be hard hit. He blamed the current situation on the 30-year monopoly given to Interoil, adding "right now we are stuck". "Why should we produce oil and yet buy fuel at very high prices?" Mr Ipatas questioned.

Meanwhile public transport operators are being squeezed out of business, and are calling for fare rises.

PUBLIC Motor Vehicle (PMV) operators operating along the Lae-Ramu route have called for an increase in passenger fares to cater for the nationwide increase in fuel products by InterOil.The Route Three PMV Association, which has more than 60 registered operators, is calling a meeting tomorrow to discuss the implications that the increasing fuel prices will have on their operations.

Vice-chairman and Route Three operator Waka Wayang said: “There has not been an increase in passenger fares in the past 10 years despite rising fuel price.” Mr Wayang said because of the imbalance in fuel rises and passenger fares, more than 50% of their operational costs were spent on fuel. He said the remaining 50% accounted for maintenance and repair costs and allowances for the drivers with marginal profit. He said this had seen some 50% of PMVs going out of business.

Price rises are also hitting the fishing and forestry industries.

THE surge in fuel prices is having an adverse impact on two of Papua New Guinea’s biggest industries – fishing and forestry. Some tuna fishing boats have abandoned fishing and are currently tied up alongside the Port Moresby harbour in Downtown.

Blaise Paru of Sanko Bussan (PNG) Ltd said high fuel prices had hit them hard, and questioned why PNG was producing crude oil that should be processed at Napanapa. “If fuel is processed locally, then why should it be expensive?” he questioned.

Bob Tate of PNG Forest Industry Association had earlier said logging companies burned a lot of fuel and they were already having a difficult time. He said this before the latest price hike.