Chevron eyes untapped oil, gas reserves

US-based oil giant Chevron group said it is now conducting studies on untapped oil and gas prospects in the country.

Chevron Malampaya LLC president Kevin Lyon said the conduct of such studies is part of the company’s commitment to pursue oil and gas exploration opportunities in the Philippines.

“We have received the data from the Department of Energy (DOE) and we are doing preliminary studies,” Lyon said.

Chevron has stakes in both upstream and downstream Philippine oil sectors.

The group owns a 40-percent stake in the $4.5-billion Malampaya natural gas project in Northwest Palawan.

At present, Chevron, is one of the largest integrated energy companies in the world. Headquartered in San Ramon, California, and conducting business in approximately 180 countries, the company is engaged in every aspect of the oil and natural gas industry, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transportation; chemicals manufacturing and sales, and power generation.

Chevron’s acquisition of Unocal Corp. in 2005 also widened its exposure in the upstream oil sector and has strengthened its position as a global energy leader.

In the downstream oil industry, Chevron markets the Caltex brand. It is also active in the oil and gas industry through Chevron Texaco, which owns a 45-percent stake in the Malampaya natural gas to power project. Geothermal firm Unocal Philippines Inc., is also Chevron’s subsidiary in the Philippines. Chevron had earlier asked the DOE if it would initiate a reprocessing and conduct new intrepretation of old seismic data to determine untapped oil and gas prospects in the country.

It was learned that some of the DOE’s oil seismic data dates back to the 1970s.