THE government could award six more petroleum service contracts (PSCs) for oil exploration in different parts of the country, the Department of Energy (DOE) said on Friday.
This follows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. having awarded last Wednesday eight new PSCs — covering Cagayan, Cebu, Central Luzon, East and Northwest Palawan, and Sulu for domestic energy exploration and production — to various international and local consortiums.
The PSCs underwent a transparent and competitive selection process under the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program, the DOE said.
“There are three more contracts being evaluated in the Office of the President, and another three [in the DOE]…. We’re continuing the momentum of opening up areas [for oil exploration]. However, we cannot disclose any more details at the moment,“ Energy Undersecretary Alessandro Sales told reporters.
In 2023, the administration declassified data and allowed open access to interested parties in oil exploration, which paved the way for the service contract applications, Sales pointed out.
Collectively, the eight new PSCs represent a potential investment commitment of $207 million over a seven-year exploration period, the DOE said.
“This is the largest batch of PSCs awarded in a single period in Philippine history,” Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said.
“These service contracts represent our continued efforts to attain greater energy security, and therefore, economic stability, and self-reliance,” Marcos said at the presentation of the PSCs in Malacañang.
The new contracts include the world’s first competitive bid round for native hydrogen — a clean, zero-carbon energy source which Marcos said “[holds] immense promise for our country and for the world” — aside from co-managed petroleum projects with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The eight PSCs were awarded to consortiums composed of Australian firm Triangle Energy (Global) Ltd., United Kingdom-registered Sunda Energy Plc, United States-based Koloma Inc., Israeli company Ratio Petroleum Ltd. and Filipino firms Philodrill, PXP Energy, Anglo Philippine Holdings, and Forum Energy Philippines.