Abacus expects to start producing coal
Publicly listed Abacus Consolidated Resources and Holdings Inc. said it was expecting to finally start producing coal in its concession areas in Tago, Surigao del Sur, by the middle or latter part of this year.
In a filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange, Abacus said its wholly owned subsidiary Abacus Coal Exploration and Development Corp. was already completing the post-approval requirements prior to actual operation, namely, securing an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) and clearance from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
It was only last year that the Department of Energy had allowed Abacus Coal to move to the production and development phase from the exploration phase for Coal Operating Contract No. 148, which covered seven prospective coal blocks spanning 7,000 hectares in Tago.
COC No. 148 for development and production is valid for 10 years until 2020 and can be extended for another 10 years should there be remaining mineable reserves.
Abacus Coal is on track to completing its work program, under which the company had intended to start producing coal on its third year (January 2012 to January 2013) with an initial production of 187,200 metric tons. The same volume of production is expected on the fourth and fifth years (January 2013 to January 2015).
Abacus earlier said it was spending P355 million during the five-year period.
The government has since been stressing the need for the country to harness its own coal resources given an increasing demand for the commodity, which now stood at about 12 million metric tons a year.
Local production averages 7 million MT, of which about 3 million tons are exported to various Asian markets. Coal importation remained hefty at about 7 million MT per year.
It is expected that over the next 20 years, coal will remain the main fuel for power generation and, as such, the government continues to encourage the private sector to explore and develop the country’s prospective coal blocks to find additional reserves that can be used to address the growing demand for coal.
And by harnessing its own resources, the Philippine government also believes it will be able to push for energy independence that will allow the country to reduce its fuel imports and lessen its vulnerability to global price fluctuations.
