DOE awards 7 new coal exploration areas

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded seven new coal areas for exploration under the 5th Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR 5) for coal operating contracts yesterday.

The awardees were Coal Black Mining Corp. for Area 2, Philsaga Mining Corp. for Area 6 and 7 and Sahi Mining Corp. for Area 4, 5, 10 and 11.

Energy Undersecretary Zenaida Monsada stressed the significance of energy explorations in the power generation sector.  

“With the development and dynamism of our industries, we must veer toward the exploration of indigenous energy resources… we cannot always rely on others, we must strive and grow on our own,” Monsada said.

She said the mission of the PECR is to provide stability and sustainability of the energy sector, which have been the core thrust of the DOE since its foundation.

The DOE will continue to advocate indigenous energy explorations as it gear towards the growth and development of the energy industry and country, Monsada added.

She said developing indigenous resources of energy would eventually lessen the country’s dependence on imported fuel. 

The PECR is a transparent and competitive system for awarding contracts for coal and petroleum exploration.

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

For petroleum service contracts, the DOE extended the deadline for submission of bids to a later date after earlier extending this to end-March 2015 from the original Feb. 27, 2015 deadline.