Philippine energy roadshow stirs interest from foreign firms – DOE

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) attracts the interest of more international companies as it continues to conduct roadshows abroad to promote the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP).

The agency has received a total of 21 requests of area clearances as of Sept. 5, which resulted in the submission of seven letters of intent (LOIs) from six companies.

It also said eight companies have availed in data viewing as of Sept. 10, wherein six of those have successfully purchased data for petroleum exploration.

This is a result of the continuing efforts of the Duterte administration to explore and discover indigenous petroleum resources even after it opened bids under the PCECP last month.

The opening of bids last month garnered four nominations of pre-determined areas in Sulu Sea, East Palawan and Cotabato.

It also resulted in three nominated areas, namely in the Sulu Sea Basin from Sulu Sea Energy Resources Development Corp., in Ragay Gulf southeast Luzon from Superior Shipyard, and Northeast Palawan Basin from Troika Giant Power Corp.

Soon after, the DOE resumed its promotion campaign for the PCECP through the conduct of international roadshows with the goal of spurring investors’ interest from abroad, the latest of which is in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

This unprecedented venture in the Middle East, in collaboration with DOE’s organizing partner, the Energy Institute, and through the cooperation of the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi, the Philippine Consulate-General in Dubai, and the DTI-Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) will allow the DOE to communicate with established companies in UAE that may lead to forging new partnerships for oil and gas exploration in the country.

The DOE said it is well aware that the increase in exploration and development activities all over the world is a measure against the pricing of oil, affecting costs of transportation and power.

For an energy-secure future, it has committed to Explore Explore Explore in the pursuit of energy independence, security and sustainability through effective and reasonable development of all indigenous energy resources in the Philippines.

The DOE is pushing for petroleum exploration and development activities in the country to serve as a cushioning measure against the volatility of oil prices, which has a direct impact on the costs of transport and power.

Presently, there are only 19 active Petroleum Service Contracts (PSC) in the country, with Shell Philippines Exploration, Total E&P, PNOC-EC, Nido Petroleum, Philodrill, PXP Energy and Galoc Production Co., to name a few of DOE operator-partners.

Among all PSCs, the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power Project is the most successful. As the largest natural gas industrial project in the Philippines, it recovered all costs in four years.a