Philippine oil, gas sector gets attention

About 100 global oil and gas exploration and service companies have expressed keen interest in investing in the local upstream oil and gas industry, during the second leg of the government’s international road show for the Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR 4) in Singapore.

According to the Department of Energy, attendees to the Singapore road show held last Friday included Total, Fugro, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co., Santos, Perenco, Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd., ENI, Chevron, Apache, Anadarko, Lundin Petroleum, Cathay Petroleum, Star Energy, Loyz Oil, New Zealand Oil and Gas, Nio Petroleum, Husky Energy, Nexus Energy, PFC Energy, JMJ Petroleum, Coastal Energy, Origin, Kris Energy, and Swan Oil and Gas.

Energy Undersecretary Jose M. Layug Jr. disclosed that even exploration and service companies in neighboring Asian countries attended the Philippine road show, including Petronas, Pertamina, One Asia, JGC (Malaysian) Sdn. Berhad, Tullow Bangladesh Ltd., ROC Oil Malaysia, Petra Perdana Berhad and Newfield Peninsula Malaysia Inc., JX Nippon and Samudra Energy.

“We are once again overwhelmed by the number of companies that showed up and expressed interest in exploration in the Philippines. This continues to be a testament to the investor confidence in the Aquino administration and the direction it has set for Philippine energy security,” Layug said in a statement.

“The attendance at the Singapore road show is overwhelming and the investor interest in Philippine exploration is unprecedented,” noted Stephen Doyle, president of the Cathay Petroleum and Southeast Asian Petroleum Exploration Society.

Layug said the Department of Petroleum and Energy of Papua New Guinea had likewise expressed support to the Philippine government’s PECR 4 and “will encourage its investors to consider the Philippines for exploration.” Existing service contractors such as Nido Petroleum, Philodrill, Pearl, Forum, Pitkin and Petroenergy were also in attendance to lend full support to PECR 4.

The government is offering contracts to explore and develop 15 highly prospective oil and gas blocks, covering a total area of more than 10 million hectares in Northwest Palawan, East Palawan and Sulu Sea basins. Northwest Palawan is home to the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project in the Philippines, the country’s largest and most successful natural gas industrial project.

PECR 4 formed part of President Aquino’s long-term plans to address the Philippines’ need for oil and gas and to reduce the country’s dependence on costly imported oil.

This platform provides for transparent and competitive system of tendering onshore and offshore oil and gas blocks for exploration to interested oil and gas companies. Under this process, the Department of Energy (DoE) will determine the winning bidders based on specific technical, legal and financial criteria, after which the President of the Philippines will award the service contracts.

The DoE is set to soon conduct road shows in Houston and London. Many investors have already begun registering for the London presentations and are awaiting information pertaining to the blocks to be offered.

The demand for oil in the Philippines is estimated at 300,000 barrels per day and with the entry of new companies that will venture into exploring and developing the country’s indigenous resources, the Philippines expects to gradually reduce its dependence on costly imported petroleum products.

There are 28 active petroleum service contracts in the Philippines today with Exxon Mobil, Shell Philippines Exploration, Nido Petroleum, BHP Billiton and Galoc Production Co. among the operators.