Total mulls oil, gas exploration

After investing in a multi-million peso oil facility in Manila, Total Philippines Corp. is now seriously considering the possibility of engaging in oil and gas exploration activities in the Philippines.

"There are ongoing discussions to extend our operations in the Philippines to include upstream exploration," Total president and managing director Jeff Attwood said.

He said the Total group is closely coordinating with the Department of Energy (DOE) on this matter.

Total is a subsidiary of Total S.A., the world’s fourth largest oil and gas company with operations covering the entire oil and gas chain-from exploration and downstream production to trading, shipping, refining and marketing, including chemicals.

Total S.A. was formed from an alliance of Europe’s three major oil companies namely Total S.A., the Belgian petrochemical giant FINA and ELF Aquitaine, operating in more than 100 countries in five continents.

Total S.A has upstream operations in the Middle East principally in the United Arab Emirates-Abu Dhabi and Dubai- Oman and Qatar; the North Sea; the Far East (Indonesia, Thailand); Latin America (Argentina, Columbia) and Africa (Angola, Congo, Nigeria).

Established in 1997, Total has two oil depot in the Philippines, in Mariveles, Bataan with 58 million liters capacity and the other in Manila with an initial nine million liters capacity but expandable to 28 million liters.

It has spent $5 million in Phase I of the Manila oil depot and expects to spend another $4 million in the next two years.

Out of its 60 service stations, 13 are located in Metro Manila; seven in Pampanga; six in Bataan; five in Nueva Ecija and Laguna; four each in Bulacan, Batangas, Pangasinan, Tarlac and Cavite; two in Bicol region; and one each in Lucena and Zambales.