Summary of mining and petroleum laws of the world (in five parts): 2. East Asia and the Pacific (Information circular / Bureau of Mines)
The department is making a final list of the oil and gas areas that will president to the incoming Energy secretary of President-elect Benigno Aquino III, according to Energy Undersecretary Ramon Oca.
“We will have to present that to the new Energy secretary. I guess it might be too late to present it to Secretary (Jose) Ibazeta," Oca told reporters.
The sites in are in Palawan, as well as in Mindanao and Central Luzon.
“We're still checking if there are protected areas in these sites. If there are protected areas or even sanctuaries, we will have to avoid them to avoid problems also, particularly bird and marine sanctuaries," Oca said.
The department started promoting oil and gas exploration in 2004 in an effort to reduce the country's reliance on imported fuels.
The contracting round is designed to encourage private sector participation in the government’s energy independence program through a transparent and competitive system of awarding service and operating contracts.
The contracting round for oil and gas exploration has brought in $455 million worth of investments, involving 30 service contracts as of March this year, according to Energy data.
Preliminary geological report on Gebel Khoshera area (Western Sinai) (Petroleum research)
The department offers separate contracting rounds for geothermal and coal areas.
Under the 2006 contracting round, the government offered to nine petroleum areas covering 71,357 square kilometers, which included coal prospects with a combined estimated reserves of 421 million metric tons and geothermal areas with an estimated capacity of 100 megawatts. —VS
