By Lenie Lectura - September
20, 2018
THE Department of Energy is
encouraging downstream oil-industry players to participate in the DOE’s
Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP).
“I think Petron may be interested.
Shell may have another round. They are looking at ‘own use’ prospects to be
able to have control on oil prices. Every week, there’s an adjustment in oil
prices,” said DOE Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella on Wednesday during
the DOE-EU forum held in Manila.
Shell’s upstream operating company
in the Philippines is Shell Philippines Exploration BV For Caltex; its
exploration arm is Chevron Malampaya. Both are members of the Malampaya
consortium.
Another oil firm engaged in
exploration activity is Total E&P Philippines, which has a stake in
Service Contract 56 in South Sulu Sea.
Petron has no exploration unit yet
in the country.
The PCECP is the DOE’s revised and
transparent petroleum-service contract awarding mechanism that allows the
government to develop and utilize indigenous petroleum resources under a
service contract with qualified local and international exploration companies.
Under the PCECP, awarding of service contracts is conducted either through the
competitive selection process or via nomination.
“Aside from inviting foreign
investors, we are also inviting the local oil industry. But it’s up to them. To
each their own level of comfort,” said Fuentebella when asked if the oil
firms have declared interest in any of the 14 identified areas
under the PCEP.
The DOE is set to conduct a series
of road shows to help boost the exploration of oil and gas resources in the
Philippines.
The agency has chosen Palawan to
jump-start the local road shows. This will be followed by other road shows to
be held in Davao on September 27 and Zamboanga next month.
These three venues were selected to
host said events as they are strategically located near some of the 14
predetermined areas (PDAs) of the DOE for potential petroleum exploration and
development activities.
The PDAs include one area in the
Cagayan Basin, three in Eastern Palawan, three in Sulu, two in Agusan-Davao,
one in Cotabato and four in Western Luzon.
During the road shows, local
communities will be oriented on the benefits of hosting exploration and
development projects and its greater contribution to nation-building.
Aside from the 14 PDAs, the PCECP
now has an added option of allowing prospective investors to nominate areas
outside of the PDA list.
“We have to be aggressive in our
pursuit of achieving energy self-sufficiency as envisioned by the Duterte
Administration. Maximizing our exploration and development activities would
help us keep up with energy sector developments and economic changes in the
ASEAN region and worldwide,” DOE secretary Alfonso Cusi said.
Based on DOE records, an annual
average of only five wells have been drilled in the country from the period
2007-2017. This puts the Philippines way behind its neighboring countries,
Myanmar (29), Malaysia (81), Indonesia (903), Thailand (594), and Vietnam (43),
that have conducted significantly more drilling activities.
After the roadshows, the DOE will
formally launch the PCECP in November.
The DOE will likewise send a
delegation to the Association of American Petroleum Geologists’ International
Conference and Exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa in the same month.
In August 2018, the DOE participated
in the Asia-Pacific Scout Check Meeting, as well as the South East Asia
Petroleum Exploration Conference where the DOE Delegation held one-on-one
meetings with 18 petroleum exploration companies.
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