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THE
Department of Energy (DOE) said Thursday the 2006
Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR) has garnered
firm expressions of interest from 20 local and
international upstream companies.
Upon
closing of the 2006 PECR application period on
Wednesday, more than 20 local and international upstream
companies have evaluated the investment opportunities
for coal, geothermal and petroleum exploration and
development during the period of investment promotions.
According to DOE it has received bid proposals for all
the nine areas that were offered for the petroleum
exploration and development.
“We are
very pleased that a number of local and international
upstream companies have expressed keen interest in
participating in the exploration and development of the
country’s coal, geothermal and petroleum resources.
The
proposals submitted will now be reviewed by the DOE on
the basis of work program, financial and technical
qualifications of contractors, among others,” said
Energy Undersecretary Guillermo R. Balce.
In
December 2006, the DOE opened for bidding promising
sites for coal, geothermal and petroleum exploration and
development. Fourteen areas were offered for
exploration, development and production of the country’s
coal resources.
These
areas located in Quezon, Negros Occidental, Cebu,
Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Sur,
Davao Oriental and Zamboanga Sibugay have a total
resource potential of 421 million metric tons (MMT) of
coal.
For
geothermal, three areas for exploration, development
and/or direct utilization for power generation use and
other geothermal applications were offered that are
located in Batangas, Biliran and Compostela Valley have
a combined potential generation of about 100 megawatts.
Lastly,
nine contract areas covering a total of 71,357.30 sq. km
located within the prospective basins of
East Palawan and Mindoro-Coyo, and in the promising basins of Cagayan,
Central Luzon, Visayas and Agusan-Davao were offered for
petroleum exploration.
Following the submission of the bids, the DOE will start
with the technical, legal and financial evaluation.
Disclosure of the names and the number of companies that
actually submitted their proposals will follow in
accordance with the PECR guidelines.
The
awarding of contracts is expected before the end of
2007. |
