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SUNDAY, 31 JULY 2011 17:45 PAUL ANTHONY A. ISLA
STATE-RUN Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) on Friday released cash dividends of P2.004 billion as approved by its board on July 12.
Gemiliano Lopez Jr., PNOC chairman and chief executive, said total cash dividend paid to shareholders has amounted to P5.56 billion. PNOC-EC is 99.79-percent owned by the government through PNOC.
Lopez said the series of cash dividends declaration have not hampered the company in its mandate of seeking sustainable energy sources such as oil, gas and coal.
This, as the Malampaya consortium recently announced it will undertake a development program of the gas field amounting to $1 billion to $1.5 billion to sustain its commitments under Service Contract (SC) 38.
In SC 59 and SC 63, PNOC-EC, together with its respective partners BHP Billiton and Nido Petroleum, will undertake exploratory drilling in its respective service contract areas next year where the partners are confident of uncovering the country’s next major oil and/or gas find.
In SC 37, PNOC-EC is also on track with its exploration work and is scheduled to drill in 2012.
For its coal program, the development of the Lumbog mine within PNOC-EC’s concession area, Coal Operating Contract 41, is well underway and where the company expects to produce at least 200,000 metric tons (MT) a year.
In the same contract, Lopez said two additional mines have recently been approved by the company’s Board of Directors for development, namely Sta. Barbara and Lower Butong. In all, PNOC EC aims to produce 800,000 MT a year from these mines in COC 41 by 2015.
“As PNOC-EC celebrates its 35th year in the industry, we reaffirm our commitment of exploring and harnessing indigenous energy resources to provide a stable energy supply for the country,” Lopez said.
(Paul Anthony A. Isla)
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