FOLLOWING the awarding of eight petroleum service contracts (PSCs) in Malacañang last week, three more are being evaluated by the Palace for approval.
A Department of Energy (DOE) official said there are another three contracts that are being evaluated by the Office of the President. Moreover, DOE Undersecretary Alessandro Sales said, the agency itself is also reviewing similar applications. ‘There are another three that are under application and evaluation in the department,’ he said.
The eight PSCs worth around $207 million covers exploration areas at the Sulu Sea, Cagayan, Cebu, Northwest Palawan, East Palawan, and Central Luzon. The service contractors are expected to discover native hydrogen reservoirs and new petroleum fields during the seven-year exploration period.
The eight PSCs that were unveiled by President Marcos are:
PSC 80 and 81 were awarded to a consortium composed of Triangle Energy (Global) Limited, an Australian company; Sunda Energy Plc, registered in the United Kingdom; and the Philippine-based firms PXP Energy Corp. and the Philodrill Corp.
These are co-managed by the DOE and the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM-MENRE). SC80 covers approximately 780,000 hectares while SC 81 spans about 532,000 hectares.
PSC 82, located in Cagayan Basin and has an area of 480,000 hectares, was awarded to Triangle Energy (Global) Limited.
PSC 83 and 84, both for native hydrogen exploration in Central Luzon, were awarded to US-based Koloma, Inc.. SC 83 covers 126,645 hectares while SC 84 covers 85,082 hectares.
PSC 85, covering 127,475 hectares in onshore Cebu, was awarded to Gas 2 Grid Pte. Ltd.
PSC 86, awarded to consortium of Filipino companies composed of The Philodrill, Anglo Philippine Holdings Corp., PXP Energy Corporation, and Forum Energy Philippines Corp., covers 132,000 hectares in the Northwest Palawan Basin.
PSC 87, located in the East Palawan Basin, was awarded to Ratio Petroleum Ltd. of Israel. This marks the company’s second PSC, following PSC 78, also situated in the East Palawan Basin, where Ratio successfully conducted a 3D seismic survey last year.
The next steps to be undertaken by the service contractors include permitting with local governments and other government agencies, information campaign, geological and geophysical studies, seismic survey, sand drilling activities, among others.
These work programs are designed to assess the petroleum and hydrogen potential of the contract areas while ensuring strict adherence to environmental and safety standards.
Beyond exploration, service contractors will fund and undertake educational scholarships, capacity building, and community development programs even during the early exploration phase. Once production begins, host communities will further benefit through infrastructure development, social programs, and local employment opportunities generated by these projects.