President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday unveiled eight new Petroleum Service Contracts (PSCs) covering exploration areas in the Sulu Sea, Cagayan, Cebu, northwest Palawan, east Palawan and central Luzon.
PSCs are agreements between the government and the private sector that allow the latter to explore, develop and produce petroleum resources within designated areas.
In his speech, Marcos said the agreements would ensure a sufficient energy supply for the present and future generations.
‘Through these service contracts, our country will have a secure supply of energy – enough to meet our needs not only today but also for the future of our children and the generations to come,’ he said.
Valued at USD 200 million, or around P11.6 billion, these PSCs will pave the way for the exploration of offshore gas and oil reserves in Palawan and the Sulu Sea, as well as hydrogen exploration in central Luzon, among others.
‘Consequently, these efforts will capture the interest of more international partners to invest in our country and to join our quest to discover new indigenous resources,’ the president said.
‘We will continue to update and upgrade our processes to make them more responsive to the needs of our investors and our communities. In return, I encourage our investors to turn your investments into engines of progress,’ he added.
The Department of Energy, through its Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program, evaluated applications that were found legally, technically, and financially qualified to enter into PSCs for their areas.
Below is the list of the eight PSCs presented during the ceremony:
PSC Nos. 80 and 81 – awarded to a consortium composed of Triangle Energy (Global) Limited, Sunda Energy Plc, and Philippine-based firms PXP Energy Corp. and The Philodrill Corp. were aimed to revitalize petroleum exploration in the southern Sulu Sea
PSC No. 82 – located in the Cagayan basin and awarded to Triangle Energy (Global) Limited
PSC Nos. 83 and 84 – both for native hydrogen exploration in Central Luzon, were awarded to Koloma Inc., a company based in the United States
PSC No. 85 – located in Cebu was awarded to Gas 2 Grid Pte. Ltd.
PSC No. 86 – located in the northwest Palawan basin was awarded to a consortium of Filipino companies composed of The Philodrill Corp., Anglo Philippine Holdings Corp., PXP Energy Corp., and Forum Energy Philippines Corp.
PSC No. 87 – located in the east Palawan basin was was awarded to Ratio Petroleum Ltd. of Israel. /apl