EWC Sengkang, page-3

Hi Palmtree

I read the articles reporting on the meeting. It was between the South Sulawesi government and the Wajo Regency. It seemed to be about the locals laying dibs on the increased production from the gasfields - hopefully not at the expense of the power generation or LNG export - for local reticulation and perhaps a fertiliser plant.

The Regent expressed his hope the LNG plant will commence, but that he had to do so shows it is either the South Sulawesi DPRD or the Forestry Ministry that holds the key.

I do not want to be unduly negative, but I think the need for a "friendship" meeting between the Regent and the provincial officials illustrates the layers of intertwined bureaucracy and competing interests that EWC needs to navigate. Wearing my doom and gloom hat - unless EWC can show there is enough gas to service all the competing interests in the region, it seems the reality is that the LNG export hub is unlikely to be supported by all the interested parties - despite what they say publicly.