Philippine National Oil Co., Tel Aviv’s Ratio Petroleum ink deal for gas exploration
Tel Aviv-based energy company Ratio Petroleum has partnered with government-owned Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) to explore and develop oil and gas resources in the Philippines.
Senior representatives from the two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Friday in Taguig to permit PNOC entrance to Service Contract (SC) 76, a potentially lucrative 4,160-square-kilometer offshore section of Philippine continental shelf operated by Ratio.
The agreement will also provide for cooperation in research and feasibility studies, and the exchange of technical information.
“PNOC has been looking for technology partners to assist its energy activities, particularly in the exploration and development of new oil and gas fields to intensify its contribution to building the country’s energy security and self-sufficiency,” the Philippines Department of Energy said in a statement.
In 2015, Ratio proved victorious in a tender published by the Department of Energy to explore the deep water bloc off the northeast coast of the Philippine’s Palawan province.
The tender, approved by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte in October 2018, provides Ratio with access to an area potentially capable of producing an estimated 1.2 billion barrels of oil and 2.1b. cubic feet of gas.
In November 2018, the Philippines Department of Energy launched its Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP), a government program encouraging companies to invest, explore, develop and produce local energy resources.
Investors have until next month to bid for 14 onshore and offshore areas predetermined by the Department of Energy, measuring a combined 72,800 sq. km.
In addition to Ratio’s rights in the Philippine block, the company also possesses rights to exploration blocks in Ireland, Malta, Guyana and Suriname, totaling approximately 30,000 sq. km. of territory.
In 2010, Ratio discovered the Leviathan deep-water natural gas reservoir about 130 km. west of Haifa, and today holds a 15% working interest in the field.
Due to commence commercial gas flow to the domestic market by the end of the year, Leviathan is Israel’s largest energy project to date and promises to both boost domestic energy supplies and serve as an export outlet to Israel’s neighbors, including Egypt and Jordan.