PNOC-EDC to bid for new drilling deals in Papua NG

The PNOC-Energy Development Corp. (EDC) will bid for new geothermal drilling contracts in Papua New Guinea (PNG), a ranking company official said yesterday.

"We will join the bidding which is scheduled by the end of this month," EDC president Paul Aquino said.

Aquino said EDC’s contract with PNG’s Lihir Management Co. (LMC) for steamfield development and management has already expired last year.

He said PNG would be bidding out four contracts. "We will participate first in the one year contract," he said.

Since 1998, EDC has been engaged by LMC for drilling operations in Lihir Island, New Ireland Province in PNG.

EDC concluded its third contract with LMC for the drilling of geothermal, steam relief and dewatering wells in Lihir Island.

The state-owned geothermal firm has operated for over three years with zero lost time incident making the company the leader in safety performance over the two other international drilling companies contracted by LMC.

EDC’s annual revenue comparison shows an average 10 percent yearly increase in the geothermal firm’s drilling income. In 2002, EDC earned P249.2 million from drilling alone.

Its drilling income hit P1.1 billion in December 2002 mainly from drilling and consultancy service contracts with LMC, Gulf Indonesia and Philippine Geothermal Inc. since June 1996.

EDC owns and operates drilling rigs. It started exporting its drilling services in 1997 for an oil and gas drilling contract in Indonesia. The company was able to send rigs to Indonesia and PNG and deployed drilling consultants and rig maintenance specialists to both countries.

In the Philippines, EDC counts the PGI, among its clients.

EDC is primarily engaged in the business of developing and operating geothermal energy projects and geothermal power projects in the Philippines.

It operates geothermal energy projects in Leyte, Luzon, Negros and Mindanao with a total installed capacity of 1,148 MW or about 60 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal energy capacity.