PNOC, Taiwan firm tie up for Zambo coal proj

The PNOC-Exploration Corp. (EC) is intensifying its coal mining operations in Malangas, Zamboanga del Sur, a ranking company official said.

EC president Rufino Bomasang told The STAR that it had forged a joint venture with Taiwanese Overseas Mining Corp. to enhance EC’s coal mining activities in the said province.

EC is correctly producing 300 tons of coal per day, or equivalent to 3,000 barrels of oil, in Malangas.

To help the small-scale miners in the area, Bomasang said EC is also buying about 500 tons of coal per day, or equivalent to 1,500 barrels of oil from these independent coal co-producers.

Bomasang noted that local coal from Malangas could be blended with imported coal to be used for power generation and other industries.

He said many local cement companies have also started using blended coal products to meet their power demand.

"This is a significant development in the local coal industry. There is a shortage of coal in the international coal market. It is prudent that we are able to produce coal that can also be used by local companies for power generation," Bomasang said.

The EC official said cement manufacturing plants are also utilizing coal for their operations.

According to Bomasang, they started producing "good quality" coal middle of last year. Malangas alone has an estimated that it has coal reserves of about five million tons.

Coal demand in the country is estimated at eight million tons per year. "We could hardly produce two million tons of coal every year. So we still have six million tons that need to be tapped," he said.

He said this development is consistent with the government’s thrust to develop indigenous sources of energy and enable the country to lessen and eventually eliminate the use of imported fuel oil.

Aside from the Malangas coal mine project, EC is in talks with Japanese firms for a potential partnership in the country’s first mine power plant project in Isabela.

Earlier, Nissho Iwai Corp. and Korea Electric Power Corp., have expressed interest to participate in the project.

Bomasang said that the Isabela area has a potential of generating some 150-megawatt (MW) of power. But initially, he said they will start developing only 30 MW. "We will continue developing the rest of the potential 150 MW as the market develops," he said.

EC was established in 1976 to serve as the oil and gas exploration arm of PNOC. It is actively engaged in the country’s search for indigenous sources of energy. Since its establishment in 1976, it has operated various onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration activities in many parts of the country.

The company also operates the country’s first natural gas power plant facility, a three-MW pilot plant in San Antonio, Isabela, that was commissioned in 1994. The plant now supplies the electricity requirements of some 10,000 households via a local electric cooperative.