A deadly landslide in the mountains of Papua New Guinea, near where US oil giant Exxon Mobil is building a $15.7 billion gas project, is raising fresh questions about the global energy industry’s scramble for ever harder-to-reach resources.The landslide tore through a quarry used by Exxon in January, killing at least 25 people in the poor South Pacific country, but it has stirred little international publicity even though an expert report had questioned the safety of the excavations.
The controversy also raises some familiar issues aired by critics of “big oil” in previous disasters: a pressure to deliver results, contractors found to have cut corners and remote operations that limit government oversight.
Exxon, which was using the quarry to produce rock and gravel needed to develop the upstream end of its gas-export project, has said it is unclear what caused the disaster in Papua New Guinea’s steep, heavily wooded Southern Highlands. Read More
