MANILA, Philippines - Gemiliano C. Lopez, chairman of the Board of Directors of the PNOC Exploration Corporation (PNOC EC), said yesterday that the prospects for the success of exploration for indigenous sources of energy in the Philippines are brightering.
Addressing the PNOC EC stockholders meeting, Lopez revealed that the Board of Directors has approved a budget of P7.042.76 billion for all operations of the PNOC EC for the year 2013. The amount is bigger than the P6.568 billion appropriated by the corporation last year.
“The increased budget represents the commitment of the PNOC EC to conduct and intensify exploration and development of indigenous sources of energy in order to augment the energy supply of our country, bring down the cost of energy, ensure its steady and adequate supply and accelerate national economic development in all its aspects,†Lopez told the stockholders.
Lopez said that the PNOC EC, which is a subsidiary of the state-owned Philippine national Oil Company (PNOC) will intensify its exploration, development and production of oil, gas and coal in its six service contracts from the Department of Energy.
“We are confident that in the next few years, with our intensified, concentrated and improved field explorations, we shall eventually discover rich petroleum resources underneath our seas and lands to justify production and development of energy resources, including petroleum, coal and gas,†said Lopez.
“Our engineers, geologists, explorers and men in the field are gaining experiencing and getting closer to realizing our dream of acquiring adequate energy sources in our territory,†he added.