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MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday opened the bids for oil and gas projects despite opposition raised by previous contractors and concern over China's territorial claims.
Undersecretary Jose M. Layug, Jr. said the department accepted nine out of 16 bids offered by petroleum companies for the 12 oil and gas service contracts under the fourth Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR).
"We are very happy because compared with the three past PECRs, it is even more than what we received. If we total PECR one to three, we only received 12 bids," he said.
Of the 12 areas offered by the DOE, three had rejected bids and four had no offers.
The DOE is banking on these projects to help accelerate the development of indigenous petroleum resources amid the country's reliance on fuel imports.
Should they mature to commercial production, the projects could also help alleviate the tight power supply in parts of the country.
Among the offshore petroleum blocks that secured successful bids from investors were areas 10, 11 and 14 in East Palawan; area 12 in Cotabato; and area 15 in the Sulu Sea.
Burgundy Global Exploration Corp., whose contracts for areas 13 and 14 were cancelled by the DOE, has threatened to challenge the bidding in court.
But the DOE had yet to receive a temporary restraining order from any court at the time the agency bid out the two areas.
The companies whose bids were accepted by the DOE were Forum Pacific Inc., Helios Mining and Energy Corp., Dil Moro Energy Corp., MinEnergy Pty. Ltd., Loyz Oil Pte. Ltd., The Philodrill Corp. and Mitra Energy Ltd.
Once the government awards the service contracts to any of these firms, they would be required to undertake exploration and development activities that would cost an estimated $500 million for each of the areas, Layug said.
"We have committed to at least 100 working days purely for the DOE evaluation. We then have to send our recommendation to the President. Pursuant to the Constitution he is the one authorized to sign these agreements," Layug said.
The DOE initially lined up 15 oil and gas projects for bidding but moved the opening of bids for areas three, four and five in Northwest Palawan to July because of the volume of data it received from potential bidders.
These areas are located near the Recto Bank, which contains the Sampaguita gas field, which is believed to be on a par, if not bigger than the country's largest natural gas producer to date, the Malampaya field.
China has been claiming the Recto Bank as part of its territory.
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