DOE open to unsolicited proposals for coal, petro contracts

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) will allow private sector to submit unsolicited proposals to develop coal and petroleum contracts, which will then be subjected to a Swiss challenge, effectively replacing the agency’s Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR).

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the proponents won’t have to wait for government to announce a new contracting round for petroleum and coal prospects with the agency’s proposal to launch the Philippine conventional energy contracting program.

This should fasttrack the development of the country’s indigenous sources, he said.

“With the new program, any proponent can come up with a proposal that they want to explore the area. They will be ones who will identify the areas and they will submit offers,” Cusi said.

“When they submit offers, what DOE will do is publish that and will subject them to competitive selection process,” he said.

PECR is a transparent and competitive system for awarding service contracts. It aims to showcase the petroleum and coal exploration opportunities in the country and to attract energy investors to develop the country’s indigenous oil and gas resources.

Last July, the DOE announced it plans to launch the sixth PECR by December. The DOE has last launched the PECR in June 2015, where it showcased 11 petroleum exploration contracts.

Under PECR 5, only two exploration companies have passed the qualifying stage for three areas. These are Israel-based Ratio Oil Exploration which submitted bids and qualified for Area 4, a 416,000-hectare area in East Palawan, and local company Colossal Petroleum which qualified for the 576,000-hectare Area 5 in East Palawan and the 468,000-hectare Area 7 in Recto Bank.

However, these have yet to be awarded because of several tax issues in previous contracts pending in courts.

Cusi said the service contracts are now awaiting the signature of President Duterte.

“Awarding of the service contracts to winning bidders are pending because of the prevailing tax issue. But we’re ready to have it signed by the President,” he said.