Japanese, Asian firms eye projects in the Philippines
Japanese, Asian firms eye projects in the Philippines
MANILA (AFP): Japan's Idemitsu, Mitsubishi and Itochu are interested in investing in downstream oil projects in the Philippines as they position for the deregulation of the oil sector next year, an official said yesterday.
Zenaida Monsada, chief of the Energy Department's energy resources and supply administration division, said other companies from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and India have also expressed interest.
She said her office has been "receiving inquiries" for possible investment in the sector, which involves refining, import and export, shipping and transport, storage, and marketing of fuels, lubricants, specialty oils and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Monsada, however, declined to name the Southeast Asian companies, saying they were yet to make formal proposals. She also could not give details of the investments of the Japanese companies, saying they had not be settled.
Itochu, however, has formed a joint venture with Chemoil Asia to operate a 980 million-barrel transshipment facility for diesel and bunker fuel on Nonoc Island off Surigao Del Norte province in the southern Philippines.
Farm
The partnership has leased an oil tank farm from a mothballed nickel refinery and has spent about one million U.S. dollars on rehabilitation. They plan to rent out the facility to oil companies.
Monsada said the energy department heard a petition by Itochu and Chemoil last Friday but still has to decide whether to grant them a permit to operate.
She said the potential investments are aimed at serving not only the domestic market -- which is targeted for deregulation by next year -- but also the Asia-Pacific region.
Nonoc Island is also the site of a proposed two billion dollar oil refinery geared 100 percent for export and financed by a Filipino-Indonesian consortium. Officials have told the consortium to start construction of the refinery this year, Monsada said.
Another local firm, First Philippine Industrial Corp., has sought the energy department's permission to build an additional 200 kilometers (125 miles) of pipeline from Batangas province south of the capital to Bataan province west of Manila for liquid and gaseous fuels.
Analysts said the use of the proposed additional 10- to 24- inch link could be boosted if gas from a major field off southwestern Palawan peninsula is landed on Batangas through a proposed 500-kilometer (312-mile) undersea pipeline from the wellhead.