Trans-Asia, Frontier Gasfields sign equity-option deals

Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp., whose shares are traded on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), has signed farm-in option deals with Frontier Gasfields Pty. Ltd. of Australia. A unit of the Phinma Group, Trans-Asia said in a disclosure to the PSE that the agreements with Frontier Gasfields cover its service contracts (SC) 55 and 69 for petroleum exploration. The deal gives Frontier Gasfields a 150-day option to buy from Trans-Asia a 5-percent equity in SC 55 once the first exploratory oil well in the Marantao prospect, near the Malampaya oil and gas field in Palawan, is completed. Malampaya is the Philippines' largest producer of condensate gas. SC 55 covers a 9,000-square-kilometer area in offshore southwest Palawan. The Marantao prospect is estimated to contain 1.812 trillion cubic feet of gas and 567 million barrels of oil. Seismic data from SC 55 have been collected by various groups in the 20 years to 1990, but no well has so far been drilled in the area. Trans-Asia holds a 15-percent stake in SC 55 with Australian oil and gas firm Otto Energy Ltd. holding 85 percent of the contract. Otto acquired its 85 percent interest in SC 55 when it bought NorAsian Energy Ltd. in 2006. The agreement over SC 69, on the other hand, gives Frontier Gasfields the option to buy a 15-percent participating interest, Trans-Asia said. SC 69 is a 7,040-square-kilometer area in offshore Central Visayas bounded by the islands of Cebu, Bohol, and Leyte. Otto Energy, which holds 79 percent of the contract, is also with Trans-Asia in the SC 69 consortium. Frontier Gasfields may exercise its option under SC 69 within 182 days from the date it pays for the option fee, Trans-Asia said in its disclosure. Trans-Asia posted a net loss of P39.6 million in the first quarter of the year from a net income of P178.8 million a year earlier, as lower revenue and higher costs and expenses hounded its operations for the first three months of 2010. Its consolidated revenues dropped to P251.2 million from P385.9 million in the same comparable period after it lost the revenue stream from the power plant of CIP II Power Corp. when Manila Electric Co. took over the concession agreement with the developer of Carmelray Industrial Park II in Calamba, Laguna on April 11, 2009. Trans-Asia’s consolidated costs and expenses amounted to P285.3 million from P180.7 million, the company said. —VS, GMANews.TV