ExxonMobil interested in Phl drilling contracts – DOE

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Global oil giant ExxonMobil has expressed interest in biding for drilling contracts in the Philippines following a meeting with the country’s delegation on the sidelines of this year’s American Association of Petroleum Geologists’ International Conference & Exhibition, which is ongoing in this city’s Congress Center.

Department of Energy Undersecretary and delegation head Zenaida Monsada said the company requested for the meeting to know more about the areas offered under the Philippine Energy Contracting Round 5 (PECR 5).

“We hope they will bid. We’re hopeful that big companies like Exxon would also find the areas offered by the Philippines as attractive,” Monsada told The STAR.

The country’s participation in the exhibition marks the third leg of its international roadshow for PECR 5 after Singapore and Australia.

The PECR, a regular activity by the DOE, is a transparent and competitive system for awarding energy contracts.

The goal is to showcase the petroleum exploration opportunities in the country and to attract energy investors to develop the country’s indigenous oil and gas resources.

The delegation met with James Jamie White, Exxon’s opportunity manager for the Asia Pacific and the Middle East and R.A. Gistri, senior advisor for business development.

Monsada said during the meeting, the Philippine team provided the Exxon executives with briefers on the data packages. The data packages provide 2D and 3D seismic data on the 11 areas offered under PECR 5.

Areas offered for petroleum exploration are in Southeast Luzon, Masbate-Iloilo, Northeast Palawan, Southeast Palawan, West Palawan, West Luzon while areas offered for coal exploration are in Surigao, Agusan-Davao, Zamboanga and Cotabato-Sarangani.

Rino Abad, director of the DOE’s Energy Resource Development Bureau, said the Exxon officials inquired on the data package and also welcomed the extension given by the Philippines for the submission of bids.

“We hope and look forward to a positive response,” Abad said.

For petroleum service contracts, the DoE extended the deadline for submission of bids to end-March 2015 from the original Feb. 27, 2015 deadline.