THE SENATE Energy Committee will push for a measure restructuring the Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) following the suspension of its president and chief executive officer Pedro A. Aquino.
Senate Energy Committee chairman Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian said Mr. Aquino was suspended for approving a memorandum of agreement (MoA) without securing permission from the board or from PNOC-EC chair Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi.
“We could have prevented this situation if we had a more focused PNOC,” Mr. Gatchalian said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, the PNOC is spreading itself too thin by doing different things when its focus should be on oil and gas exploration.”
He said the MoA signed with a Russian firm seeks to develop a multilateral cooperation in oil products and trading, and joint participation in oil refining.
Mr. Gatchalian said the agreement showed the PNOC-EC is venturing in petroleum trading.
On top of this, the PNOC is looking into LNG, while PNOC Renewables Corp. is building solar rooftops.
“We plan to remedy this situation by championing in this Congress a measure that will restructure PNOC by abolishing its existing subsidiaries and directing its focus away from non-exploration activities,” he said.
“The bottom line here is that we will refocus the PNOC to purely upstream oil and gas so that it will contribute in securing the country’s energy needs.” — CAT
