15 Philippines oil blocks attract investor interest, DOE says

Building on the gains of two successful overseas roadshows, the Department of Energy attracted more foreign investor interest in the 15 hydrocarbon blocks being auctioned under the Philippine Energy Contracting Round 4 (PECR 4) at a recent presentation in Italy.

The DOE’s Italian roadshow for the PECR 4 took place on Oct. 23-26 at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Inc. 2011 International Conference and Exhibition.

Hundreds of financial managers and international petroleum exploration company executives converged at the event, the largest of its kind in the industry.

Energy Assistant Secretary Ramon Allan Oca, in his presentation during the conference, highlighted the need to find “the next gold mine’’ in the Philippine upstream oil and gas sector.

“The skyrocketing prices of fossil fuels have made it more important that the Philippines makes the best offers it could to possible investors and explorers. We have to become competitive with our neighbors in this particular undertaking,’’ he said.

Prior to the presentation in Italy, the DOE brought its PECR 4 roadshow to Singapore and Australia, and it was met “with a lot of enthusiasm” by potential investors.

Since the formal launch of the PECR 4, the conduct of the Australia and Singapore roadshows, and the opening of the online data room in end-June, the DOE said it had piqued the interest of at least 50 companies.

These include industry giants Royal Dutch Shell Group, Total, Exxon and BHP Billiton.

The 15 blocks being offered to investors under the PECR 4 span a more than 10-million-hectare area in the Northwest Palawan, East Palawan and Sulu Sea basins.

For investors to be given service contracts under the PECR 4, they should meet specific technical, legal and financial criteria, and best other bidders.

There are currently 28 active petroleum service contracts in the country.