PNOC eyes tie-up with BP to build depot facilities

MANILA, Philippines – PNOC-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC), the upstream oil, gas and coal subsidiary of state-owned Philippine National Oil Company, is looking at a possible partnership with British Petroleum (BP) to establish depot facilities in the Philippines.

The proposed tie-up with BP is one of the measures identified to help the company improve its revenues, said PNOC-EC President Pedro Aquino Jr., in a speech delivered during the company’s 39^th anniversary

The company is looking at different measures to offset the declining revenues brought about by low oil prices.

Aside from BP, PNOC-EC also plans to expand its business partnerships with Nigeria, China, Oman and Russia to market their products here and abroad, Aquino said.

PNOC-EC is also looking at investing into small producing wells in Indonesia.

The investment in wells would “make us an oil producer no matter how small the production capacity is,” Aquino said.

PNOC-EC also wants to increase its international oil and gas trading by appointing trading partners to supply oil and petroleum products in countries that favor government-to-government transactions.

“We are currently experiencing some hiccups in our operations brought about by the sharp decline in the price of crude. However, we have to make certain that we continue to grow and to fund all our existing and future projects,” he said.

PNOC holds 7 petroleum service contracts (SC). These are SC37 (Cagayan Basin), SC 38 (Malampaya), SC 47 (offshore Mindoro), SC 57 (Calamian), SC 58 (West Calamian), SC59 (West Balabac) and Sc 63 (East Sabina).

It used to operate the San Antonio Gas power plant within SC 37 before taking a 10% stake in the Malampaya consortium in 1999.

PNOC also holds 7 coal operating contracts and trades coal. It owns and operates a private commercial port in Mabini, Batangas which provides berthing, cargo handling, storage and warehousing facilities. ­– Rappler.com