Forum Energy (FEP.LSE)CNOOC eyes joint exploration deal.
A Filipino-British company has begun talks with China’s state-owned offshore oil producer for a deal to jointly explore for oil and gas in the Reed Bank, a vast offshore area disputed between China and the Philippines, a Filipino official said.
Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said the talks between London-based Forum Energy and China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC, were at a preliminary stage. He added a commercial agreement could hopefully be reached despite the long-raging disputes over the Reed Bank.
The talks were being held abroad, mostly recently in Hong Kong, he said.
The alternative to not entering into a business partnership “is not to drill, probably forever.” Petilla said.
President Benigno Aquino III said any such deal with China would have to conform to Philippine laws. The Reed Bank northwest of the Philippine province of Palawan lies clearly within his country’s exclusive economic zone, Aquino said.
The territorial conflict has hampered oil exploration in the offshore area, Petilla said, but added the Philippines needed to find a way to tap its potentially huge oil and gas deposits to meet his country’s growing energy demand. Natural gas deposits at a nearby offshore field called Malampaya are expected to run out in 2024, he said, adding it takes about a decade to develop such a gas field.
China and the Philippines, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, have been contesting ownership of the clusters of mostly barren islands, islets, reefs and surrounding waters in the South China Sea for years.
Forum Energy (FEP) hope to finalize arrangements with Cnooc soon
Forum Energy to drill Palawan gas find in 2016
The group of business tycoon Manuel Pangilinan is set to start the drilling of its oil and gas find in offshore Palawan in 2016.
Pangilinan chairs the Philex Petroleum Corp., which controls Forum Energy Plc. that will do the drilling in an area being claimed by China.
Forum Energy said the drilling on its principal asset could be done after a seismic survey in April or May next year for the Service Contract (SC) 72 Reed Bank, which contains the Sampaguita gas discovery.
“There could be a seismic survey done as early as April or May next year and I propose appraisal of drilling in 2016,” Pangilinan told reporters.
He said Philex Petroleum has already initiated talks with China National Offshore Oil Corp. (Cnooc) for a potential partnership.
“We’ve requested a meeting with them but they have not responded yet,” he added.
“So, as soon as those arrangements are finalized we will, of course, advise our government,” he said.
Because of the delay in its drilling program, Forum Energy sought and obtained a two-year extension from the Department of Energy for the implementation of the second exploration sub-phase of SC72 to August 2015.
Philex Petroleum owns 60.49 percent of Forum Energy, a UK-based upstream oil and gas company.
Forum Energy holds a 70-percent interest in SC72, and the remaining 30 percent is owned by Monte Oro Resources and Energy Inc., led by businessman Enrique Razon Jr. RITCHIE A. HORARIO |
