[ad_1]
The Philippine National Petroleum Company Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC) highlighted the importance of a well-crafted study of the country’s 16 sedimentary basins to make them marketable to potential investors.
PNOC-EC President Rozzano Briguez, during Monday’s forum “Philippine Energy Transition: A Race Through Economic Disruption, Technological Changes and Innovation”, highlighted the importance of geological and geophysical studies in these basins, and said these are preconditions for the government’s plan to attract future energy exploration investors in the country.
“The study will be the basis for investors’ knowledge of the Philippine premise in terms of energy resources. We have to make sure that our sedimentary basins are well studied because it really is the basis for future explorations that we have, ”said Briguez.
PNOC-EC has partnered with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the University of the Philippines (UP) to conduct the ongoing study that began 2 years ago.
“Right now, it’s in full swing with the DOE and UP. It has been a continuous effort by PNOC-EC, beginning with the Cagayan basin. We partner with DOE on this. With UP, we plan to extend these studies to the Cotabato basin and elsewhere.
In other countries, our neighbors are actually having 24/7 surveys of their entire geological basin. In the Philippines, unfortunately, we don’t, ”he said.
He did not say when the studies would be completed. “This would take a long time to achieve, but it is a good start.”
The 16 basins cover an area of more than 700,000 square kilometers. These are the Agusan-Davao Basin, the Bicol Platform, the Cagayan Basin, the Central Luzon Basin, the Cotabato Basin, the Eastern Palawan Basin, the Ilocos Canal, the Mindoro-Cuyo Basin, the Northwest Palawan, Reed Bank Basin, Southeastern Luzon Basin, Southwest Palawan Basin, Sulu Sea Basin, Visayan Basin, West Luzon Basin and West Masbate-Iloilo Basin.
Meanwhile, the President of the Philippine Energy Independence Council, Don Paulino, highlighted the importance of continuing oil exploration activities at Recto Bank.
“It’s really about making sure we understand the geology of our sediments in these areas, West Philippine Sea [WSP] particularly since that remains unexplored. The pronouncement lately on WPS exploration is very welcome, ”he said.
DOE previously lifted the moratorium on oil exploration activities in the Western Philippine Sea, effectively allowing PNOC-EC, Forum Energy, and PXP Energy Corp. to resume exploration activities under Service Contract 59 in West Balabac, Palawan. ; Service Contract 72, which covers Recto Bank, also known as Reed Bank; and service contract 75 is in northwest Palawan. “This allows a more sustainable development of the WPS because for me I see many opportunities in that area,” he added.
Meanwhile, the president of AC Energy, Eric France, expects the demand for energy to recover from next year.
When asked during the forum about next year’s outlook, he said that industry demand would resume to its pre-Covid level, if not higher, starting in 2021.
“Along with the recovery and demand, we are already seeing confidence from both consumers and businesses. We have started to see that slowly in Luzon, ”he said.
