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By Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo, Reporter
PHILIPPINE National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC)
is bidding out half of its participating interest in the West
Balabac bloc in offshore Palawan to accelerate the area’s
exploration program.
In a pre-qualification and bidding invitation,
PNOC-EC said that interested investors may vie for at least a 50
percent participating interest in West Balabac under Service
Contract 59 (SC 59).
The said service contract covers a 14,760-square
kilometer area, and is located off the southwestern tip of Palawan,
close to Malaysia’s Kikeh field, which is estimated to contain 400
to 700 million barrels of oil.
PNOC-EC, which currently holds 100 percent
interest in the area, said that it initiated the bidding for half of
the service contract’s interest to find a joint venture partner
that will allow it to pursue exploration activities in the bloc.
Rafael del Pilar, PNOC-EC president, earlier
said that although seismic data is already available for the field
at a “technical development level,” it cannot yet confirm the
area’s potential oil and gas reserves.
However, PNOC-EC said in its website that
several international oil companies have already shown interest in
possible joint venture opportunities in SC 59.
The exploration firm earlier eyed to bid out a
60 percent interest in the West Balabac bloc to another group in
November last year.
PNOC-EC said that interested parties have until
April 16 to submit their letters of intent so they can participate
in the exploration bloc’s planned bidding. A pre-bid conference is
scheduled on April 28.
PNOC-EC, the oil and gas exploration arm of
state-owned PNOC, is 99.78 percent owned by the government. The rest
of its shareholdings are listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Aside from SC 59, PNOC-EC holds interests in
five other offshore exploration concessions in the country. These
include SC 43 (Ragay Gulf), SC 47 (Offshore Mindoro), SC 57 (Calamian),
SC 58 (West Calamian), and SC 63 (East Sabina).
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