Energy dep’t to offer new exploration deals

Business World Online
Posted on March 16, 2014 10:27:32 PM 
By Claire-Ann C. Feliciano, Reporter 

A NEW SET of coal and petroleum resource areas will be auctioned off next month under the fifth leg of the Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR), a Cabinet official said. 
"We will proceed with the launch of the PECR 5. It will be on April 25 at Hotel Intercontinental," Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said in a text message during the weekend. 
The PECR program, launched in 2003, identifies areas for exploration and development that will be offered to investors. 
Mr. Petilla said an inventory conducted by the department showed that nine petroleum and 11 coal resource areas would be put on the block. 
"Those numbers are still tentative as we are still receiving more nominations for possible areas that will be bid out. We will be finalizing them by April 4 and will have the final list by then," he said. 
Under the PECR 4 -- which took place in 2012 -- the Energy department offered 38 coal and 15 petroleum blocks.
The auction generated 69 bids for 28 coal contracts and 20 offers for 11 petroleum, but only 11 bids for coal and five for petroleum were ruled to be qualified. The eight firms that bagged coal operating deals were: 
 • Altura Mining Philippines, Inc. (Area 3 in Catanduanes); 
 • South Davao Development Corp. (Area 8, Occidental Mindoro); 
 • Semirara Mining Corp. (areas 9 and 25B in Oriental Mindoro and Sarangani); 
 • Empire Asia Mining Corp. (Area 18B in Surigao del Sur); 
 • SKI Mining Corp. (Area 19A in Agusan del Sur); 
 • PNOC-Exploration Corp. (areas 19B, 29 and 30A in Surigao del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay); 
 • Mega Philippines, Inc. (Area 23 in South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani); and 
 • Blackstone Mineral Resources, Inc. (Area 27 in Zamboanga Sibugay). 
 Petroleum service contracts, meanwhile, were granted to: 
 • Australian firm Planet Gas Pty Ltd. (Area 1, Cagayan basin); 
 • the consortium of Philex Petroleum Corp., PNOC-EC and PetroEnergy Resources Corp. (Area 4, northwest Palawan basin); 
 • the consortium of Pitkin Petroleum Plc and Philodrill Corp. (Area 5, northwest Palawan basin); 
 • NorAsian Energy Philippines Inc. (Area 7, Mindoro basin-Cuyo platform); and 
 • Australian firm Loyz Oil Pte Ltd. (Area 14, East Palawan basin). 
Mr. Petilla has said that areas with no takers during the PECR 4 will again be auctioned off in the next round. He also pledged to provide assistance to the winning bidders in terms of securing government endorsements. 
The coal operating contracts call for a two-year exploration period that can be extended for another two years. 
The petroleum deals have a longer seven-year exploration term, which can be renewed for another three years. 
The development periods for both types of contract depend on the results of the exploration phase. 
The department’s Energy Resource Development Bureau is responsible for the preparation of the documents for each PECR. 
Bid submissions will be evaluated based on a proposed work program and legal, technical and financial qualifications. source