PNOC eyes Indonesian oil fields

PNOC Exploration Corp., a unit of state-owned Philippine National Oil Co., plans to invest in oil fields in Indonesia this year, according to a report.

?We will make overseas investment in oil-producing fields in Indonesia,? PNOC Exploration president Pedro Aquino Jr. said as quoted by the Manila Standard Today.

Aquino did not say whether the investment would be through a joint venture with an Indonesian partner.

Indonesia was the 23rd-top oil-producing country in the world with a production output of 882,000 barrels a day in 2013.

Meanwhile, Aquino said PNOC Exploration would continue its coal mine project in Isabela. The Isabela mine-mouth coal project is estimated to have a generating capacity of 100 megawatts.

?We hope to find an investor that is willing to put up a coal-fired power plant,? he said.

Korea Electric Power Corp. and Marubeni Corp. earlier expressed interest in a joint venture with PNOC Exploration to develop the Isabela and Zamboanga Sibugay coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 200 MW. (*)