November 18, 2018 | 10:42 pm
THE Department of Energy (DoE) is hoping that a new round of
contracting will spur more petroleum exploration ventures and close the
resource development gap with regional neighbors.
The DoE will launch the Philippine Conventional Energy
Contracting Program (PCECP) on Thursday.
DoE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said his office was
“aggressively pursuing” the implementation of the contracting program to set a
strong “Explore, Explore, Explore” program.
“We have been grossly trailing behind our neighbors in terms
of petroleum exploration and development activities. It is high time that we
step up. We need to attain energy security and sustainability to minimize our
vulnerability to global oil price shocks,” he said in a statement during the
weekend.
“Harnessing our indigenous energy resources would also go
far in helping us meet the country’s increasing energy demand as we continue to
usher in economic progress,” he added.
The program offers two modes of application that potential
investors may pursue.
First, interested parties may wish to bid on the 14
pre-determined areas identified by the DoE all over the country — one in
Cagayan, three in east Palawan, three in Sulu Sea, two in Agusan-Davao, one in
Cotabato, and four in west Luzon.
Thursday’s launch will officially open the application
period, which will be for 180 days.
The DoE said applicants may opt to nominate and publish
other areas of interest to them. Through this mode, applications could be
submitted at any time of the year, and subject to a “challenge” period of 60
days.
Accepted applications will be evaluated by the DoE’s
centralized review and evaluation committee based on the criteria under
Department Circular No. DC2017-12-0017, which adopts the PCECP mode of awarding
petroleum service contracts and creating the panel.
Before the launch, the DoE conducted road shows to boost
awareness of the program, including one in Singapore in August.
In October, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Service
Contract No. 76, the first service contract under his term. The contract covers
area 4 of eastern Palawan and was awarded to Israeli firm, Ratio Petroleum Ltd.
The DoE said the deal signalled the administration’s push to revive the
country’s upstream petroleum industry.
At present, 23 petroleum service contracts are active in the
Philippines with the following developers: Shell Philippines Exploration B.V.;
Total E&P Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.; Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration
Corp.; Nido Petroleum Pty. Ltd.; Philodrill Corp.; PXP Energy Corp.; and Galoc
Production Co.
The Malampaya deepwater gas-to-power project off the Palawan
coast is so far the largest and most successful natural gas industrial project
in the Philippines. — Victor V. Saulon
No comments:
Post a Comment