Israel firm eyes joint oil exploration in Palawan
Israeli firm Ratio Petroleum Ltd wants a joint exploration with the Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corp. (PNOCEC) of possible petroleum reserves in the east Palawan basin.
Rafael Harpaz, Israeli ambassador to the Philippines, said his government is supporting the planned joint exploration.
“It is a private company but we are paving the way. They are working on it, it is a long process. So, it is in the hands of God if they will find it, they are a seri- ous company and I hope they will succeed in finding gas,” he said.
Harpaz said they understand how much the Philippines need an efficient source of energy.
“I know how much you need to become efficient in terms of energy. This is important, I am not an energy expert but I know how it is important for you,” he added.
Ratio Petroleum was awarded Service Contract (SC) 76 covering Area 4 of Eastern Palawan, as part of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) 5th Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR) launched in May 2014.
The SC 76 spans 416,000 hectares located at the east Palawan basin which has potential oil and gas reserves.
The seven-year exploration project will cost USD34.35 million, which will cover studies, data gathering, and drilling activities.
There are 23 active petroleum service contracts in the Philippines with the following developers: Shell Philippines Exploration, Total E&P, PNOC-EC, Nido Petroleum, Philodrill, PXP Energy and Galoc Production Company.
The largest and most successful natural gas industrial project is the Malampaya-Camago field deepwater located in the Service Contract 38 license area in 65 kilometers offshore northwest Palawan.
The Rotlevy and Landau families, together with Zvi Tsafriri and Eitan Aizenberg, established Ratio Petroleum in 1992.
The company is focused on exploring for hydrocarbons both onshore and offshore with a number of large-scale operations at the Levant basin in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Israel, as well as offshore operations in the Republic of Malta and the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.