Phl offers high returns for oil, gas, coal explorations

MANILA, Philippines - The decline in the number of major oil discoveries in the world and the high prices of crude oil induced by geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East have caused many oil exploration companies to intensify their search for potentially attractive but highly rewarding sites to drill onshore or offshore.

The Philippines offers several drill areas that are close to previous discoveries or where new data released by government indicate presence of hydrocarbons or where the latest scientific technologies have lowered costs and risks but promised high returns.

To attract exploration companies in upstream energy (oil, gas and coal), the Philippines provides one of the most competitive terms for service contracts to winning bidders.

The Philippines offers maximum contractor take at 40 percent of net proceeds. Cost recovery offered is up to 70 per cent of gross proceeds or actual expenses per calendar year. Further, non-capital expenditures are fully recovered.

The Department of Energy released data as of June 2011 that reported potential petroleum resources of the country at 27,905 million of oil initially in place and 53,870 billion cubic feet of gas in place. The estimated recoverable discovered and undiscovered resources include 1,892 million barrels of oil, 20,349 billion cubic feet of gas and 164 million barrels of condensate.

The contract round includes service contracts for coal resources. Total coal resource potential is estimated at 3.53 billion tons. There are 60 prospective coal sites identified across the country.

As part of the incentives scheme, the Department of Energy will be assisting winning contractors to lower the costs of exploration. Upstream Energy 2012 is being organized in cooperation with the Department of Energy by Leverage International as an international exhibition with business forum where CEOs of exploration companies, technology experts, government authorities and equipment suppliers could exchange knowledge and share experiences under one roof.

Upstream Energy 2012 international exhibition and business forum will be held on Nov. 14-16, 2012, at the SMX Convention Center. Interested parties may contact Tel. 810-1389; 818-6828; Email: [email protected]; Fax: 810-1594.