PNOC vows to pursue development of renewable energy sources

The Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) has vowed to pursue the development of renewable energy sources this year, a ranking company official said.

PNOC president Peter Aquino Jr., who assumed the top PNOC post two months ago, said they "will continue to aggressively develop our renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, and hydropower."

Aquino added, however, that this will not mean that they will neglect the oil sector. "We will continue to pursue aggressive oil and gas exploration efforts," he said.

The PNOC executive also said they will continue to forge and strengthen our strategic alliances with foreign partners that will result in new oil and gas discoveries, increased reserves."

Last month, Aquino invited his counterparts in the ASEAN region to invest in the development of the country’s oil and gas resources.

He specifically requested Vietnam and Myanmar to take a look at investment prospects in the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) business.

He said there is also a need to continue to explore other sources of energy.

"We will continue to explore and develop our indigenous coal reserves," the PNOC chief said.

Aquino also pointed out the significance of taking the lead in geothermal development.

"We will continue to pursue to explore and develop geothermal, perhaps by doing so, make the country ‘number 1’ in geothermal power production worldwide," he said.

At present, the Philippines is the second largest producer of geothermal power next to United States.

PNOC’s geothermal development arm, PNOC-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC), recently listed its shares in the country’s stock market.

Aquino is optimistic that PNOC-EDC, using the proceeds from its initial public offering (IPO), would be able to continue upgrading and modernizing its existing facilities this year.

The PNOC president also hopes that PNOC-EDC would be able to come up with new projects this year and sustain its profitability.

PNOC-EDC is one of the most profitable subsidiaries of the PNOC group. It is expected to increase its profit in 2007 by 10 to 15 percent.