PNOC-EC to bid out 50% stake in Mindoro project

Publicly-listed PNOC-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) will bid out a substantial portion of its stake in Service Contract (SC) 47 in offshore Mindoro.

In an invitation to bid issued by the company, it said it would allow interested investors to own 50 percent of the SC.

“PNOC-EC is in search of a venture partner to pursue its exploration program in SC 47,” it said.

PNOC-EC holds a controlling 97 percent stake in the SC 47 block, with PetroEnergy Resources Corp. and Basic Energy Corp. holding two percent and one percent participating interest, respectively.

SC 47 is specifically located t east of the Northwest Palawan basin where bulk of the country’s tapped petroleum resources is located.

The area covers an area of 1.5 million hectares and includes the Tablas and Kamia prospects.

Based on earlier data, the SC contains around 158 million barrels of oil, setting high hopes on the discovery of oil and gas reserves potentially for eventual commercial development.

In 2005, SC 47 was awarded by the Department of Energy to the joint venture of PNOC-EC and Malaysian oil giant Petronas Carigali.

But Petronas withdrew from the exploration block in the middle of the year after drillings in the Kamia prospect failed to lead into any significant oil discovery.

PNOC-EC said interested parties should be able to submit their intentions to bid  on or before Dec. 8.

SC 47 is the third among its majority-controlled exploration blocks it has solicited proposals this year for possible partnerships.

Earlier, PNOC-EC sought proposals for at least a 20 percent participating interest in SC 63 (East Sabina) and at least a 50 percent participating interest in SC 59 (West Balabac), both located in offshore Palawan.

PNOC-EC also holds interests in three other offshore exploration concessions in the country SC 43 ( Ragay Gulf ), SC 57 (Calamian) and SC 58 ( West Calamian).