MANILA, Philippines -- Energy Development Corp., the country's biggest producer of geothermal power, is reportedly eyeing prospective drilling projects in Kenya, in a bid to expand its presence in the international market.

According to EDC president and COO Richard B. Tantoco, the company has received an invitation to bid for geothermal power projects in Kenya, but the company is still studying the idea of participating in the bidding.

Tantoco said the company's targets for 2010 included the strengthening of its presence in the international market.

"One of our goals is to advance the technical side of our drilling services by expanding our international operation and eventually generate more income from this," Tantoco said.

Tantoco further added that while they saw local operations bringing in earnings for the company over the next four years, the Lopez-led firm should start scouting and exploring for lucrative overseas opportunities. He, however, declined to cite specific plans for EDC's overseas expansion, saying it was too early to do so.

Sources earlier said that EDC already submitted a bid offer for a prospective geothermal drilling project in Chile, but Tantoco merely said "there's nothing going on in Chile."

As part of its thrust for overseas expansion, EDC vice chairman Paul A. Aquino earlier said the company was eyeing new sites for its geothermal exploration projects, particularly in South Asia and the Middle East.

In Indonesia, Aquino had said that the company was looking at four prospects for geothermal exploration.

"We decided to go for the third type of expansion there, which is the preliminary survey of areas that are not owned or have not been contracted by any party," Aquino said.

He added that the company, which already has a branch there, plans to operate in Indonesia as a 100-percent foreign-owned entity and without a local partner.

Currently, the company has a drilling contract with Lihir Gold Ltd. (LGL) of Papua New Guinea, which is among the leading gold producers in the region. It sources most of its power requirements for its gold mine and processing facility from geothermal energy.

Since 1999, these drilling contracts with LGL have been a major source of revenues for the Lopez-led firm.