Department of Energy to offer 10 petroleum contracts

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) is set to offer at least 10 petroleum contracts, according to Energy undersecretary Ramon Oca who said they are just awaiting the new administration to start the new round of Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR). “We will have to present that to the new energy secretary,” he said.

While he declined to give specific sites, Oca said the areas to be covered by the petroleum contracting round are mostly in Mindanao, Palawan and Central Luzon. “It’s around nine to 10 sites. We’re still reviewing it. Still Palawan, Mindanao also, maybe central Luzon,” he said.

He, assured that the areas to be offered will not be invironmentally affected. “We’re still checking if there are protected areas in these sites. If there are protected areas or even sanctuaries, we will have to avoid them to avoid problems also, particularly bird and marine sanctuaries,” he said.

The DOE earlier said most of the petroleum areas that would be auctioned off are the ones being identified under the Philippine Petroleum Resource Assessment Project (PhilPRA).

The PhilPRA project funded by NORAD (Norwegian Agency for Development Corp.) was undertaken in 2000 and was completed in 2002. It published the first issue of a petroleum inventory of the Philippines.

Based on the PhiPRA, the country has 16 sedimentary basins representing an area of over 700,000 square kilometers.

The Philippine government has embarked on an aggressive development of the country’s energy resources through improved contracting and bidding schemes and enhanced fiscal incentives in pursuit of its quest to increase the country’s energy self-sufficiency.