Thursday, August 31, 2017

DOE eyeing faster, more transparent CSP scheme by December, Cusi says



By Lenie Lectura - August 30, 2017

THE energy department is eyeing to hold public consultations to meet its December target of conducting another oil and gas licensing round via competitive selection process (CSP).
“We may start it in December,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said. The agency, he added, must conduct public hearings first. “Part of government procedure is to have it bid out always,” he said. “Public hearings are part of the process and we will conduct one soon.”
The government, Cusi added, is veering away from the traditional Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR), in which the Department of Energy identifies possible petroleum exploration sites. The current system is meant to lure local and foreign oil-exploration firms to submit bids to the agency, which will then evaluate the offers of these companies for at least 100 days. After which, the service contracts will be signed, approved and awarded by MalacaƱang.
The DOE wants to improve the current system, in a bid to fast-track the entire process.
Cusi said the agency would no longer identify the potential sites fit for petroleum exploration. Instead, prospective investors are the ones who will identify the potential sites that interest them.  Thereafter, they should submit a detailed exploration offer to the DOE, and wait for their proposal to undergo a CSP.
“This will facilitate exploration process because work will be divided,” Cusi added, saying that the offer would be published in order to promote transparency.
The DOE launched in May 2014 the fifth PECR for petroleum.
A petroleum service contract has a seven-year exploration period, which could be extended to up to 10 years. Should this phase succeed, the contract will enter into a 25-year development or production period.
“The difference is that you would have to wait for the DOE for announcement that we are going to open this area for exploration for contracting. This takes long. Now, interested private companies will be the ones to identify and tell us which areas they want to explore. A CSP will take place. Overall, the entire process would be much faster,” Cusi stressed.
The exploration arm of the Philippine National Oil Co., Cusi said, can also participate in the new scheme.

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