MANILA, Philippines — State-run Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) has deferred its application to expand its Energy Supply Base Port project following the appointment of former Energy undersecretary Jesus Cristino Posadas as new president and CEO.
PNOC said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was presented to its board last Feb. 28 after prequalifying for the application for a reclamation permit with the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA).
The MOU is intended to guide PNOC on the mandatory requirements for the issuance of the reclamation permit. All of the mandatory requirements are ready for submission to PRA.
If approved, the MOA has a life of two years and is extendible for another six months.
“The board, however, deferred consideration of the request to approve the MOU in order to provide an opportunity for the new president, former DOE (Department of Energy) Usec. Jesus Cristino Posadas, to assess and re-evaluate with Management the timeliness of the execution of the MOU,” PNOC said in a statement to The STAR.
The nomination of Posadas was approved by President Duterte last Feb. 15, replacing former PNOC president and CEO Admiral Reuben Lista who passed away in August last year.
An undersecretary since 2016, Posadas brings valuable insights and experiences to the pursuit of PNOC’s mandate under the Philippine Energy Plan such as the establishment of the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in addition to the creation of business alliances for the developments in the LNG industry and other energy and energy-allied projects, and the continuous development of the company’s various assets.
Last year, PNOC sought the issuance of a Provincial Board Certificate of No Objection for its ESB Port Development Project in Mabini, Batangas, which is the last requirement of the PRA for a reclamation permit.
So far, it has secured a Certificate of No Objection from Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas, which has also been presented to the PRA.
The project will include the reclamation of 37,270 sqm. along Batangas Bay and the extension of the piers to reach the 12-15 meters depth.
“The new pier will provide the support and logistic facilities as PNOC EC together with other exploration service contract holders aggressively pursue its exploration activities,” it said.
The ESB is a 19-hectare property in Mabini, Batangas which offers pier services, warehousing facilities, cargo handling, equipment rental, manpower services and water service.
It was originally under PNOC-EC, but in 2017, PNOC underwent a major reorganization to transform it from an idle company into a performing and earning government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCC).
It took on the coal and oil trading from PNOC-EC by taking over the administration and operations of the ESB in January 2018.
Since then, the state-run firm has been planning to modernize the operations of the ESB port facilities to cater to future energy explorations, make it more competitive to attract more clients and accommodate bigger vessels.