Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla has tapped an adviser who will help in assessing technical concerns of investments in the upstream oil and gas industry.
The energy chief has designated Alessandro O. Sales as “special technical adviser to the Secretary” via Special Order No. SO2022-08-0029 that was issued on August 30 this year.
“This assignment shall take effect immediately and shall remain in force for the duration of the term of the undersigned as Secretary of Energy, unless sooner terminated or amended by the undersigned,” Lotilla stated in his special order.
The upstream oil and gas industry has been among the investment areas currently being sorted out by the Marcos administration, so capital influx could finally be realized into the sector – that was after years of scant exploration and production (E&P) investments in the country.
A graduate of the University of the Philippines (UP), Sales is a geologist by profession and is a well-experienced executive in the country’s oil and gas industry.
Prior to his appointment as technical adviser to the Secretary, he served as Vice President for Exploration at Production at The Philodrill Corporation, a Filipino company that has been a player in the upstream oil and gas industry for decades.
Lotilla repeatedly indicated that the country’s quest for energy security will only turn viable if the indigenous resources of the State can be developed and brought to commercial production – primarily the prospective huge resources of oil and gas that have yet to be extracted from the Philippine basins.
Apart from the technical facet of E&P investments, the Department of Energy (DOE) likewise tapped legal advisers earlier to help fix the regulatory as well as policy regimes of the upstream petroleum sector – not just for the targeted fresh round of investments, but also on prospect of extending the commercial life cycle of the Malampaya field.
Investors, in particular, are raising concerns about ‘weak data’ being culled from the DOE every time the government undertakes bidding round for its offer of petroleum blocks; hence, that could be one area that the technical adviser can help on improving.
Additionally, the country’s oil and gas blocks on tender were generally perceived to have very ‘low prospectivity’ if compared to the other countries in the Southeast Asian region – thus, that could be another sphere that the department could also address with the guidance of its advisers. ###