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Philippines: Basic Energy to sell majority stake in Batangas project to Australian firm

Philippines: Basic Energy to sell majority stake in Batangas project to Australian firm Taal Volcano, Batangas/ Philippines (source: flickr/no focus, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 24 Sep 2011

Philippine based Basic Energy Corp. is about to sell of a 70% stake in the 20 MW geothermal power project at Batangas, Philippines to Australian firm Geoenergy Inc., an affiliate company of New World Energy.

News in the Philippines report that local company “Basic Energy Corp. took a step closer to letting an Australian energy explorer acquire 70 percent participating interest in — and bear all the cost of exploring — a geothermal well in a 20-megawatt project in Batangas.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Friday, Basic Energy said it executed a “heads of agreement” with New World Energy affiliate Geoenergy Inc. ahead of a “farm-in agreement” for deeper participation in the energy contract.

A heads of agreement is a non-binding document that lists the main issues relevant to a possible partnership agreement.

Geoenergy’s local partners are Filtech Energy Drilling Corp. and PhilCarbon Inc.

Basic Energy has done the geophysical and geological studies of the contract area, which is located at the southwestern tip of Batangas, where Mabini and neighboring towns have hot springs.

According to a previous assessment by the Philippine National Oil Co.’s Energy Development Corp., “Mabini is an intermediate-temperature geothermal resource with reservoir temperature of at least 180 degrees Celsius.”

The Mabini exploration area covers 3,841 hectares and was awarded to Basic Energy in July 2008.

The other area in Batangas with geothermal energy production potential is the town of San Juan. There are also hot springs on Maricaban Island.”

Source: GMA News