ACEN Corp. subsidiary, ENEX Energy Corp., secured the approval of the Department of Energy (DOE) that enables its subsidiary, Palawan55 Exploration and Production Corp., to extend the deadline to drill a well under Service Contract (SC) 55 by a period of 18 months.
The DOE earlier found basis to place SC 55 under force majeure from December 6, 2022, until such time that a clearance to proceed with exploration activities in the West Philippine Sea has been issued by the national government.
Palawan55 said the DOE informed the company in a letter that given the current force majeure, the oil exploration company shall have a total of 23 months or the five remaining months plus 18 more months extension, from the lifting of force majeure to drill the committed well.
The DOE estimates that SC 55 in Palawan has some 2.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Apart from SC 55, other oil and gas service contracts where ENEX Energy is involved are SC 51 in East Visayas and SC 69 in Central Visayas.
Earlier this year, ACEN said ENEX Energy is keen on developing a 1,100 megawatts gas-fired power plant in Batangas.
However, ACEN emphasized that it will not be involved in the fundraising activities of ENEX to put up the project, as the former has committed to be a purely renewable energy company by 2025.
ENEX has a 50 percent economic interest in Batangas Clean Energy for the development of the natural gas-fired power plant.
The other 50 percent interest is held by Singapore-based Gen X Energy which is owned by American private equity firm Blackstone.
