$ 7.5 Billion Dollars for Oil and Gas Exploration in the Philippines - A1- A15 - DoE

The government is eyeing up to $7.5 billion in investments from the 15 new oil and gas exploration areas to be offered in the fourth Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR 4).

During the PECR 4 launch yesterday, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said they expect an investment of about $500 million for each of the service contracts (SC) to be auctioned off in the contracting round.

The PECR 4 comprises of three onshore and 12 offshore blocks with a total area of more than 10 million hectares located in Northwest Palawan, East Palawan, and Sulu Sea basins. This year’s contracting round will be the biggest yet offered by the Philippines.

Included in the areas offered under the PECR 4 are four cancelled SCs of one oil exploration firm in Sulu Sea.

Almendras said they expect to award the SCs by early next year after allowing the prospective investors about five months to conduct their respective due diligence studies.

Among those that attended the launching of PECR 4 are: Petro Energy Resources Corp.; PNOC-Exploration Corp.; Pitkin Petroleum; Philodrill Corp.; BGP Inc.; Polyard Petroleum Int’l. Co. Ltd.; Shell Philippines Exploration BV; Star Energy; Supply Oilfield Services Inc.; Tap Oil. Ltd; Venturoil Phil. Inc.; Palawan Sulu Sea Gas Inc.; Galoc Production Inc.; Gibeon Integration Systems Pte Ltd.; Great Treasures Alliances Int’l.; Logistics Marketing Phils. Inc.; Nido Petroleum Ltd.; Norasian Energy Ltd.; Oriental Petroleum & Minerals Corp.; Chevron Malampaya Phils. LLC; China Union Global Holdings Ltd.; Forum Energy PLC; Basic Energy and One Asia Oil & Gas Corp.

According to Almendras, the contracting round is expected to attract investments in oil and gas exploration activities which will contribute to the realization of the country’s energy self-sufficiency level target of 60 percent by 2011.

So far, only 10 percent of the potential oil and gas reserves of the country has been tapped.

The PECR 4 is envisioned to address the country’s energy supply through the exploration of local indigenous resources. Harnessing local resources will help the country meet its daily demand and reduce the importation of petroleum and petroleum products.

Independent and large-scale international exploration companies that have attended previous roadshows in Singapore and Australia have also expressed interest to bid in the various blocks for offer.

Energy Undersecretary Jay Layug said the Department of Petroleum and Energy of Papua New Guinea has also expressed support to PECR 4 and will encourage investors to consider the Philippines for exploration.

Almendras said they are overwhelmed by the response of potential investors in PECR 4.

Earlier, Layug said most of the investors are eyeing areas near Northwest Palawan,specifically Areas 3,4,5 where the presence of oil and gas have already been proven. The $4.5-billion Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project is located in NW Palawan.

 

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the Philippines' president will visit China amid disputed claims over Spratly Islands

The Philippines — President Benigno Aquino III plans to visit China in coming weeks but the friendly gesture doesn’t mean the Philippines is backing down from its assertions Chinese forces intruded in its waters, an official said.

The Philippines alleges Chinese forces intruded at least nine times into Manila-claimed areas in the Spratly Islands since February, allegations that sparked an exchange of diplomatic protests and verbal jabs. Aquino has strongly criticized China, saying two weeks ago that his country would not be bullied by China in the disputed region.

The presidential trip will likely take place in late August or early September, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Thursday.

The Spratlys, a chain of barren, largely uninhabited islands, reefs and banks in the South China Sea are claimed wholly by China, Taiwan and Vietnam and partly by the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. The islands are believed to be atop vast oil and gas deposits.

Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao has denied his government committed any intrusion but acknowledged that Chinese vessels were exercising Beijing’s sovereign rights in one incident at the Reed Bank near the Spratlys. Philippine officials complained the Chinese vessels harrassed a Philippine oil exploration ship into leaving the Reed Bank in March.

Just before he traveled last week to Washington, del Rosario said he was told that the Philippine military was verifying another foreign intrusion into a Manila-claimed Spratlys area.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave strong assurances that the U.S. is committed to the defense of the Philippines and would provide affordable weaponry amid mounting tensions in the Spratlys, del Rosario said.

Del Rosario said he separately gave U.S. defense officials a list of equipment the Philippines needs to improve its capability to monitor foreign intrusions in its territorial waters near the Spratlys.

Clinton assured del Rosario that the U.S. would honor its 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines that calls on each country to help defend the other against an external attack by an aggressor in their territories or in the Pacific region, he said.

Del Rosario said he told U.S. officials that if the Philippines receives defense equipment, “we become a stronger ally for you.”

China says it has sovereign rights over the South China Sea. It has also criticized the U.S. for its involvement, saying disputes over sea claims should be handled by the parties directly involved.

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