PetroEnergy completes stock rights offer

By Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star) | Updated January 30, 2018 - 12:00am

http://www.philstar.com/business/2018/01/30/1782570/petroenergy-completes-stock-rights-offer

MANILA, Philippines — PetroEnergy Resources Corp. (PERC) of the Yuchengco Group has successfully completed its stock rights offer, raising around P758.3 million to expand its renewable energy business.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, the company said it offered 157.98 million shares to stockholders at a ratio of one share for every 2.6 shares owned at a price of P4.80 per rights share.

It completed the rights offer on Jan. 26 and plans to list the shares on Feb. 2, subject to PSE approval.

PERC said proceeds of the offer will be used to bankroll renewable energy projects and for general corporate purposes.

The stock rights offer is among the fund-raising activities the company has planned to finance the equity component of its three projects lined up in the next two years amounting to P6.7 billion.

These projects are the 14-megawatt (MW) Nabas wind power project in Aklan, the 49-MW Tarlac solar power plant and 10-MW solar hybrid power project in Puerto Princesa.

The company has allotted P1.6 billion for the 14-MW expansion of the existing Nabas wind farm in Aklan. The new location is expected to have higher wind speed and capacity factor.

It is spending P2.4 billion for the 49-MW Tarlac-2 solar-power project. Off-take proposals have been offered to potential distribution utilities in Tarlac, lower than the last feed-in-tariff (FIT) rate of P8.69 per kilowatt-hour (kwh) to make it competitive with conventional power sources.

PERC has also earmarked P855 million for the 5-10 MW hybrid solar power project in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. It is targeted for commercial operations within the first quarter.

Once completed, these projects will help the company nearly double its capacity in the next two years or by 2019, PERC vice president Francisco Delfin Jr. said earlier.

So far, it has around 100 MW capacity. This comes from the 20-MW Maibarara Geothermal power plant located in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, which is 65 percent owned by PERC through its wholly-owned subsidiary PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PEGC) in joint venture firm Maibarara Geothermal Inc. This has been expanded by another 12 MW.

Also through its subsidiary PEGC, it also owns 56 percent of PetroSolar, which owns and operates the 50-MW Tarlac solar power project.

It also partly owns the 36-MW Nabas-1 wind power project under PWEI. Its shareholders include PGEC (40 percent), Thai firm BCPG Public Co. Ltd. (40 percent) and EEI Power Corp. (20 percent).

PNOC taps ADB to study LNG project proposals

Published January 29, 2018, 10:01 PM By Myrna M. Velasco

https://business.mb.com.ph/2018/01/29/pnoc-taps-adb-to-study-lng-project-proposals/

State-run Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) has formally inked an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on consultancy services that the latter will have to render on the evaluation of ‘unsolicited proposals’ for the government-underpinned US$2.0 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure build-up.

PNOC President and Chief Executive Officer Reuben S. Lista indicated that ADB’s consultancy engagement had already gotten the go-signal of the company’s board and “formal signing was made yesterday.

Moving forward, Lista noted that the technical working group (TWG) of PNOC in tandem with the ADB consultants “will now proceed to stage 2 of the unsolicited proposal process after validating the completeness of the papers of the proponents.”

The state-run firm cornered at least seven ‘unsolicited tenders’ from a good mix of local and foreign investors, but as previously indicated by PNOC Board Chairman and Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, two of these had already been discarded on non-compliance to requirements.

The remaining evaluation then will focus on the other five unsolicited bids, namely that of: First Gen Corporation; China National Offshore Oil Corporation; Indonesian firms PT Jaya Sumadra Karunia as well as PT Perusahaan Gas Negara LNG/PT Bosowa Corporindo and local partner MOF Corporation; and that of the Energy World Corporation.

At the TWG-ADB evaluation level, Lista explained that “this is where the offers are evaluated and if it serves the interest of PNOC and the government, they will go to stage 3 where some other companies might be interested to challenge.”

He qualified that if no other companies will put up viable matching offers, “then we will do the award” on the chosen entity.

Lista emphasized that the timetable of the targeted project award shall depend on the pace of work of both the PNOC-TWG and the ADB as consultant.

PNOC has always been vocal that it wants its ‘banked gas’ be aligned as its equity investment in the joint venture that will advance the chain of the propounded LNG projects – that shall be in the range of LNG import terminal, distribution system and networks as well as the gas off-taker power plant venture. In the state-run company’s project blueprint is an initial 200-megawatt gas-fired power plant that shall serve the energy needs of economic zones.

Apart from equitizing its banked gas from the Ilijan facility, the other key consideration being looked at by PNOC on the investment-proposals would be the keenness of the proponent to eventually turn the project into a bigger scale “gas hub” to match those being proposed by other countries in the region.

Iligan power exec facing estafa raps

By Edu Punay (The Philippine Star) | Updated January 29, 2018 - 12:00am

http://www.philstar.com/nation/2018/01/29/1782306/iligan-power-exec-facing-estafa-raps

MANILA, Philippines — An executive of the Iligan Light and Power Inc. (ILPI) is facing charges of syndicated estafa in connection with the allegedly anomalous purchase of two power plants in 2011.

ILPI president Ralph Casino has been charged before the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office for violation of Presidential Decree 1689, or an act increasing the penalty for swindling or estafa in relation to the Revised Penal Code.

The charges against Casino stemmed from a complaint filed recently by Uriel Borja, stockholder of ILPI and former director of Mapalad Energy Generating Corp. (MEGC), which is partly owned by ILPI. 

Aside from Casino, the other respondents in the complaint are MEGC officials Milton Along, Marcelino Agana and Lorimer Abejuela, and Chase Power representative and president Andrew Harvey.

Borja alleged that the respondents conspired in the purchase of two units of Sumitomo power plants, which amount was initially placed at $1.04 million.

He said the respondents allegedly lied to MEGC shareholders and directors to convince them to agree to the acquisition, which amount was later increased to $3.45 million.

 “This exorbitant increase in cost could have been avoided had Along, Casino, Agana and Abejuela acted in the best interest of MEGC,” Borja said in his complaint.

The complaint said the ILPI and MEGC incurred more costs for the rehabilitation of the power plants, which were supposed to be brand new when bought.

Last month, the office of the Department of Justice in Northern Mindanao ordered the filing of charges against Casino and ILPI legal assistant Noel Ebdalin for denying a stockholder access to corporate papers.