DOE to bid out petroleum exploration blocks by June

The Energy Department on Wednesday said it is will bid out petroleum exploration and development contracts this June. "We will do the Philippine Energy Contracting Round sometime in June, and we will do a road show of areas available for bids in May," Energy Undersecretary Jay Layug told reporters. Still, the government will make a final list of areas it intends to offer prospective investors, Layug said, adding that it will be released by end-April. The Energy Department earlier said it plans to offer areas in Central Luzon, east and northwest Palawan, Mindoro and Cotabato for oil and gas exploration and development. The department has already made a final draft of an exploration bill, which will be filed in Congress two weeks from now, according to the undersecretary. Presidential Decree 87, which promotes the discovery and production of indigenous petroleum, is already "antiquated" and needs to be updated, he said. The draft bill is expected to give prospective investors more incentives. "The bill [is] targeted to come up with new incentives and validating what we have now. It should be better… in the sense that it will be a win-win situation for both the investors and government," Layug said. The Energy Department is still studying if there is a need to enhance revenue sharing between government and project contractors. Layug said the 60-40 revenue sharing in favor of government after cost-recovery "could be enhanced or modified, but certainly without impairing the existing service contracts." "It's very important for the prospective foreign investor that the state respects the contract it entered into with. We cannot adjust it. There is non-impair[ment] clause in the Constitution," Layug said. — AY/JE/VS, GMA News