PNOC sets P2-B invest budget

State-owned Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) has an investment budget of P2 billion this year, a company official said.

PNOC executive vice president Alfredo Parungao said a major portion of the amount will finance a portion of its subsidiaries’ expenditure program.

PNOC controls six oil and non-oil subsidiaries namely: PNOC-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC), PNOC-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC), PNOC-Shipping and Transport Corp. (PSTC), PNOC-Petrochemical Development Corp. (PPDC), PNOC-Coal Corp. (PCC) and Filoil Development and Management Corp. (FDMC).

Parungao said they are allowed to increase their investment budget by about 100 percent. "There was a ceiling then of only P1 billion. But that was remedied. Our investment may exceed more than that (P1 billion)," he said.

The PNOC official said part of the investment fund will go to PNOC-EC which is planning to develop an open pit coal mine and a 50-megawatt (MW) power plant outside the mine. The company is conducting a study on the project, together with Japan Consulting Institute (JCI).

Parungao said they would be partly financing another exploration project of PNOC-EC in Victoria, Tarlac. He said they would be supporting other exploration ventures of EC in Mindoro and Ragay Gulf.

PNOC was created through Presidential Decree 334 in November 1973 to provide and maintain an adequate and stable supply of oil.

Aside from providing financial support to its subsidiaries, PNOC’s investment program is usually focused on money market operations.