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the best thing to hope for is that china starts to go thru some economic hard times....thats the best line of attack/defense.....economic warfare.............if china starts a recession....they will be too busy with other things than to try to pick a fight with viet nam, philipines and japan .as well as the usa......all at once...thats when the south china sea..west philipine sea will finally be developed.
this is why the ottoman empire fell...............why the roman empire fell...etc.....................over-reaching
anything new? goin on with fep.l or fecof......is this thing going to be dead in the water til next year/season for drilling when the chinese threaten them into doing nothing again? or is there political and military/navy building to support the drilling next year?
No one<corporation oil major> has stepped up to take the risk on taking a drilling rig up there..nobody offered for fear of the commies.......
How is this thing really gonna play out? Is the USA gonna back up their talk? I hear china is playing Hardball with Japan this week as well...........................it feels like its really up in the air with a slant towards abandonment of the project.
they were "technically sold".....and fep.l did get diluted somewhat because of it.........it does mean "something".........although you can choose to see it on the "lighter" side..................... having my stock diluted doesnt feel good to me.................for whatever reason,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I thought it was sold for less........ even if they made a nice profit..... you still want to see those boardmembers hold shares for that 1000+ pence mark for fep.l and 30= cent mark for fecof that the fecof shareholders keep hoping for through basic analysis.
thanks to all who chirped in to clear this up with facts.i really dont have time to dig for facts on this anymore......its been very unrewarding so far and very fleeting.......like a carrot on a stick................hopefully we can stretch our neck far enough to get at least one single bite of that carrot before it rots completely.
if you read the board as often as i do you would have seen it............its probably in fep.l shares where it happens but i simply equate that to fecofs as well simply because without fep.l there is no worth in fecof.............and i do believe it was 2 board members , not just one who excesized their options and sold in the open market ..............we had discussions on this board on how shareholders felt about that and if it was indicitive of the confidence of fep.l going forward of if the guy just wants to buy his yacht now sooner than later............
can i get some support from another poster who remembers this please.................thanks.
definition of recent or not...its way more recent than stating the 50 cents purchase by philex nearly 2 years ago....its more important to use that<insider buying or selling> as an indicator.................even one of Peter Lynch's <most successful fund manager> favorite indicators of future direction of stock performance.......
if there is still strong faith in this company through their boardmembers.......then why arent we seeing any insider buying?? at least with these prices?
recent as in 6 months ago....its been discussed and linked on this board.......i really dont have time to search it copy and paste but if you google it i'm sure you'll find a big sale which diluted our shares 6 months ago or so.......they used their employee stock options and dumped for profits around 2 pennies or less if i remember correctly
johnny......
i like your optimism but the longer it drags the more they will get desperate....its just simple that way..........philex spending another 2 million bucks and securing their majority holdings in fecof was just that...<50 cents doesnt mean squat,,,,2 nil for them was a drop in the bucket >.....giving a lifeline to fecof,their investment,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,that by no means is that fecof is worth anywhere near 50 cents today....................and the chinese issue today wasnt even on the radar back then..................this is a very different environment.........night and day........
you need to look at recent insider activity......they have been all sell orders and at very low prices...
as far as THE USA always getting what they want is untrue......................Vietnam is communit...................they lost in vietnam.......they lost in Korea........and you think they would even think of messing with china which holds 25% of their bonds???they are the only ones buying our junk bond treasuries right now.
this is not without precedent..China played this game with Japan and WON.....so they are continuing their succesful bullying strategy.....
its a VERY speculative play but still one that might meet a simple buyout agreement for around 7 to 10 cents under certain circumstances.......if china was out of the picture we could possibly see 75 cents in 2 years.... but the high end reward scenario is fleeting by the day as sc72 has missed its opportunity due to seasons for drilling.......and like i said........contrary to what you wrote,,,,,,,,the more it drags the less its worth as it is in danger of never getting done or being abandoned for china to take in their waiting game.
i havent called it quits on this but i'm saying it is closer to " frozen in time" forever than it is the optimistic viewpoint that you have..... and a frozen asset is just about worthless<slowly> to all of us as managing fees and expenses add up.
I will admit though that the tables have turned and can turn suddenly once again with fep.l................but at least a year and a half ago, fep.l's <sc72> was uncontested as a philipino well...... now its just up in the air because we all know its the victors who write the history books and right now China is having their way with us.
.012 ....wow.......market cap roughly 5 mil.............so thats like saying according to this market cap the whole of sc72 is worth just 20 million while potentially having billions of gas and oil in there...................OR saying that the contract that fep.l had/has is looked upon as worthless due to either chinas claims or harassment <at least in the publics/shareholders eyes>.
its hard enought to accumulate 1.2 million shares over a period of time....i find it interesting as to how recent or to how long ago the purchase was made before the dump..........it only reflects 15 thousand dollars changing hands today..........but if someone bought these at 5 cents months ago.....they are taking a helluva blood bath today.........if they bought it 3 years ago maybe theyre roughly breaking even..........who knows really.
there were also serious misprints on stock price according to yahoo on fep.l's price showing a tanking stock price for two consecutive days.......that was either a serious misprint/error.........or some very shady manipulation and fear generating on the yahoo finance quotes section for fep.l
would china compensate fep.l in anyway "IF" the rest of the world decides to let/allow china to take their false claim on sc72???? or would it be just a total rape of fep.l? I hate to pose these questions but the unthinkable is now viewed as possible if not likely.
has anyone looked at the price of fep.l lately?? its low volume but to see these things is enough to make you want to vomit all over this stock.
http://news.yahoo.com/china-calls-u-diplomat-over-south-china-sea-013600461--business.html
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BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Foreign Ministry has called in a senior U.S. diplomat to protest remarks by the U.S. State Department raising concerns over tensions in the disputed South China Sea, in the latest political spat between the two countries.
In a statement released late on Saturday, China's Foreign Ministry said Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Kunsheng summoned the U.S. Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Wang to make "serious representations" about the issue.
The State Department on Friday said it was monitoring the situation in the seas closely, adding that China's establishing of a military garrison for the area runs "counter to collaborative diplomatic efforts to resolve differences and risk further escalating tensions in the region".
The South China Sea has become Asia's biggest potential military flashpoint as Beijing's sovereignty claim over the huge area has set it against Vietnam and the Philippines as the three countries race to tap possibly huge oil reserves.
Beijing and Washington are already at odds over numerous issues, including the value of China's currency, Tibet and Taiwan.
Zhang said the U.S. statement "disregarded the facts, confused right with wrong, sent a seriously wrong signal and did not help with efforts by relevant parties to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea or the Asia Pacific.
"China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition, urges the U.S. side to immediately to mend the error of its ways, earnestly respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and do more to genuinely benefit stability and prosperity in the Asia Pacific," he added.
A separate statement by ministry spokesman Qin Gang repeated that China had absolute sovereignty over the sea and its myriad islands and had every right to formally set up a city to administer the region, which it did last month.
"Why does the U.S. turn a blind eye to the facts that certain countries opened a number of oil and gas blocks, and issued domestic laws illegally appropriating Chinese islands and waters?" Qin said.
"Why does the U.S. avoid talking about the threats of military vessels to Chinese fishermen by certain countries and their unjustified claims of sovereignty rights over Chinese islands?" he added.
In all, six parties have rival claims to the waters, which were a central issue at an acrimonious ASEAN regional summit last month that ended with its members failing to agree on a concluding statement for the first time in 45 years.
The stakes have risen in the area as the U.S. military shifts its attention and resources back to Asia, emboldening its long-time ally the Philippines and former foe Vietnam to take a bolder stance against Beijing.
The United States has stressed it is neutral in the long-running maritime dispute, despite offering to help boost the Philippines' decrepit military forces. It says freedom of navigation is its main concern about a waterway that carries $5 trillion in trade -- half the world's shipping tonnage.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
...
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'Peaceful development'
peaceful development for who?? the chinese only who continue to build garrisons?
3 consensus.........limit talk and actions for the philipines only? avoid escalation and development for sc72 unless the chinese get it first? keep an open door for diaologue for the philipines to surrender their sovereignty for cash or any other dirty deed or harassment?
the chinese "govt." are effing hyppocrites and have done nothing thru actions to show any of this.........contrary actually is what their deeds have shown...........they cant be trusted, and so a coalition of nations....asean and UN need to finally stand against them.
just for the record...... i had placed an open order to buy 35000 shares of fecof before the market opened at a limit price of .0155 since it closed at .015 before i was putting a higher price so it would go through.
it is beyond my comprehension other than the likely outcome of stock price manipulation by the market maker that my order was partially executed at .012...........27300 shares,,,,,,,,,,and the rest is still open as the other trade was at .016....................someone else looking at the charts would assume that there was a SELL at .012 at open when in fact i was willing to buy at .0155.....................it just smells fishy ,,,,,,,,,,,thats all...............like hes trying to shake people out at ridiculous prices.
well there you have it......
another year down the drain.....another year of waiting since they Once again push back deadlines.....
the chinese are actually winning this game of tiring us out<shareholders> by forcing fep.l to once again miss its window of opportunity <month of september>.............all china does is harass and dance around with two-faced lies and they get their way..............i think they want to buy fep.l for pennies on the dollar and as shareholders lose patience they may actually get their effing wish.,.....
if only the USA and International can get behind this issue to finally force the commie animals to uphold and stand by UN Laws of the sea .........its actually an act of invasion what they are doing in the philipines trying to take their rightfully owned resources......I personally will not shop at walaort and give those effing bastards profits
is this guy maxm a market maker?
i meant to say to the low float not low volume....the volume dollar wise wasnt at all that high....but still is significant to the daily volume.....i would still suppose it on a single seller and therefore shouldnt reflect the whole lot of us or the outcome of fecof long term.
its fair to say that fecofs recent decline far outpaced<downward> fep.l's decline and therefore could be accreditted to the low volume and single market maker who have their way with this.
the risks are still there but at these prices your reward is so much greater.....to any newbie interested in some speculation I'd say this is as good as penny stocks get.
just for the record
todays only volume was purely mine.
why?? because i needed 19,300 shares to say i own an even one million shares in my own account.....this is gonna be my last buy in this stock.....would love to see it go to 50 cents and cash out at half a mil......but that dream is either postponed or feels like its slipping away.
even though i'm currently feeling down on these shares i'm still holding out "hope" which is admittedly not a good investment strategy, .......that the chinese with all their deep pockets would at least wise up and offer to buy fep.l outright for an even billion<minimum> and look like a corporation in those waters rather than an invading force on others soveriegnty......they<commie china> really arent so smart after all...they do things the hard way and cheap way.....hurting themselves long run like soviet russia back in the day did.
the fact that i single handedly moved this stock 6 % with a lousy 500 bucks shows that technical analysis on this stock means very little without positive progress of succesful drilling..........even though I would still like to see fep.l stay above 100 pence per share for the psychological issues behind it.
best of luck to all.
this is what i take away from that post the most :
"
, China has demonstrated its intent to further consolidate its claims based on the nine-dash line. Beijing recognizes that policy changes are needed, but any change has its attendant consequences"
this poses a major threat to sc72 if accurate, and at the very least poses extreme delays on drilling until either china changes its strategy/philosophy/legality on the issue completely or until the usa or UN completely surround sc72 for construction/drilling to force the point that the world will not allow communist china to ignore international law when it feels best to do so.
The dwindling stock price of fep.l reflects sentiment in agreement with my own viewpoint above.
I'm not selling or giving advice....i'm just seeing this thing drawn out when just 3 weeks ago it looked like we were on a fast pace for progress with cnooc offering a deal and possibly a chinese backstep and forward movement in international compliance.......I for one am happy to see that the US has its secretary of state actively with her nose in it.................The US should not be Bowing to the Commies.
simply not good
what good is the united nations when they cant even deploy a small unit representing trained officers from around the world enforcing united nations/universal law........we should be drilling despite chinas retarded claims but nobody wants to risk billions of dollars and have the commie chinese sink it with noaccountability on the chinese side.............only effing china can and does get away with this behavior and its about time they get shut down......at least in a consumer boycott type of way........for starters.
I would like to see asean become more of a thorn in chinas side ,So to keep Chinas Power in check, rather than to see them become chinas stepchild and dog fetcher.
to be successful in doing so would mean to have the USA as an active advisor at its meetings.
very good reasoning,,,,
the thing is china has already pulled this crap off selling rights to drill in other peoples backyard in viet nam and may soon again try it with the philipines.............kind of getting a coalition of people/countries/corporations playing dumb and co-operating in their conspiracies.
This silence could mean that cnooc has either walked away from the bait of submission to phil soverignty or they are still getting lawyers to write up a proposal for approval.
If chinas encrochment attitude and strategy continues it will not only lead to consequences of bad business but also eventually to world war 3........I do hope they just play the business game which they are very good at instead......jmho, Styl.
http://business.inquirer.net/67841/pangilinan-may-drop-china-from-exploration-venture
For businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, the country comes first.
The chairman of Philex Petroleum Corp. said he would abandon a proposed partnership with state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) if the sovereignty or commercial issues involving the disputed Recto Bank are not resolved to the satisfaction of his group and the Philippine government.
“One thing that we will not do is infringe on the sovereignty or breach the laws of this country. So if the terms proposed are not acceptable to us and/or our government, we will simply not proceed,” Pangilinan told reporters after a meeting with Philex Mining Corp. stockholders.
Philex Petroleum is a subsidiary of Philex Mining.
“We are not pushing the case recklessly,” Pangilinan said, referring to the proposed joint exploration deal with the Chinese firm. “I want to assure everybody of that, so that we are not accused of being traitors to this country.”
President Benigno Aquino earlier remarked that he saw “no problem” with the proposed venture with a Chinese party so long as both parties adhere to Philippine law.
Both the Philippines and China are claiming sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea, which includes the oil and gas resource-rich Recto Bank. The prospective deal over the disputed area requires the approval of both the Philippine and the Chinese governments.
Asked whether the Chinese side “understands” Philex Petroleum’s position, Pangilinan said that “they are business people, so I suppose so.”
Pangilinan earlier explained that the partnership with CNOOC could boost financial and technological support for the project and, at the same time, serve to “depoliticize” the concession area.
First Pacific Co. Ltd., the controlling stockholder in Philex Mining, has been comfortably working with the Chinese since it has been based in Hong Kong for some time, he said.
Philex Petroleum holds a 64.45-percent stake in London-listed Forum Energy Plc, which in turn has a 70-percent interest in Service Contract (SC) 72 that covers Recto Bank.
Monte Oro Resources and Energy Inc. of businessman Enrique Razon owns the remaining 30-percent stake in SC 72. Walter Brown’s A. Brown & Co. owns 11.4 percent of Monte Oro.
In May, Razon opposed Pangilinan’s plan to bring in a Chinese partner, describing Pangilinan’s travel to Beijing to meet with CNOOC officials as “ill-advised.”
“As the only Filipino-owned company in SC 72, bringing in the Chinese is a colossal sign of weakness and poor judgment,” Razon said. “Discussing the possible resources in Recto Bank is an ill-advised move.”
In April, the Philippines had a standoff with China, this time over Panatag Shoal, another resource-rich reef that falls within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, according to Manila officials.
But China insists that the area is part of its territory.
With the Chinese vessels still present in the area, President Aquino has said Malacañang is now considering the option to redeploy Philippine government vessels to the shoal.
loosely connected is this story out today on chinas attitude in the region:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-27/vietnam-warns-china-to-halt-oil-bids-in-area-awarded-to-exxon.html?cmpid=yhoo
Vietnam Warns China to Halt Oil Bids in Area Awarded to Exxon
By Bloomberg News - Jun 27, 2012 1:00 PM ET
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Vietnam’s state-run oil explorer warned China to halt efforts to develop disputed areas of the South China Sea that Hanoi’s leaders have already awarded to companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and OAO Gazprom.
Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, also known as PetroVietnam, will ask China National Offshore Oil Corp., the government-owned parent of Cnooc Ltd. (883), to cancel an invitation for foreign companies to explore nine blocks, Chief Executive Officer Do Van Hau told reporters in Hanoi yesterday. PetroVietnam and its partners will continue exploring in the area and asked foreign companies not to bid for the nine blocks, he said.
PetroVietnam will “unwaveringly oppose” any foreign companies that sign contracts with China to explore for oil in the nine areas, Hau said. “The Vietnamese government will not allow any implementation of these exploration activities.”
The tender threatens to escalate tensions after Chinese vessels last year cut the cables of a PetroVietnam survey ship and chased away a boat in waters delimited by the Philippines. The blocks are the southernmost put out for bid by China in about two decades, according to Arthur Ding, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Taiwan.
“This is one way for China to assert its maritime territory,” he said by phone. “There’s probably more to come. Domestic pressure was building up so they had to do something.”
The state-run company deployed China’s first deep-water drilling rig last month near disputed islands. The blocks, covering an area of 160,124 square kilometers, are available for exploration and development cooperation with foreign companies this year, according to a June 23 statement on the company’s website.
Gazprom, Exxon
China’s blocks overlap with Vietnamese areas that have been awarded to Exxon, Moscow-based Gazprom (OGZD), India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corp. and Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM), according to a PetroVietnam map distributed to reporters in Hanoi.
The invitation for bids came as Vietnam’s parliament passed a law reasserting its sovereignty over the area. China summoned Vietnam’s ambassador June 21 to protest the move, with Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun saying Vietnam’s actions weren’t “conducive to peace and stability.”
China hopes Vietnam will “not take actions that will amplify or complicate the dispute,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said yesterday in Beijing. “At the same time, Vietnam should stop its activities that infringe upon China’s rights and interests.”
The area “lies entirely within Vietnam’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and continental shelf,” Luong Thanh Nghi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in comments posted on its website June 25. “This is absolutely not a disputed area.”
Energy Reserves
The area is estimated to have as much as 30 billion metric tons of oil and 16 trillion cubic meters of gas, which would account for about one-third of China’s oil and gas resources, according to the Xinhua News Agency. China had 2 billion tons of proven oil reserves and 99 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves in 2010, according to estimates by BP Plc. (BP/)
The Philippines and Vietnam have increased defense ties with the U.S. while rejecting China’s map of the South China Sea as a basis for joint development. China this week repeated its call to shelve disputes in favor of working together to exploit the resources.
The location of the blocks indicates that China claims the maritime spaces within its so-called nine-dash map of the sea, a development that will further alarm claimant states, according to Clive Schofield, director of research at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources & Security.
Future Clashes
“There are highly likely to be future clashes should there be actions taken by any of the countries concerned to try and explore within those blocks,” he said. “The designation of blocks is in a sense a proxy way of states trying to reinforce their jurisdictional rights.”
In 1992, China awarded Crestone Energy Corp. a block off Vietnam’s southern coast that is now owned by Houston-based Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (HNR) Talisman, an oil and gas producer with operations in North America, the North Sea and Indonesia, owns the rights for Vietnam.
Routine patrols in the area by China’s maritime surveillance ships coupled with China National Offshore’s enhanced ability to operate in deeper waters has emboldened the country to assert its claims in the area, according to Gary Li, head of marine and aviation forecasting at Exclusive Analysis Ltd., a London-based business advisory firm.
“The Chinese in the next six months are very likely to demonstrate to potential partners their ability to muscle in on these blocks,” he wrote. “So expect more patrols, high profile propaganda announcements and puff pieces on Cnooc personnel.”
I believe its more than that......hes giving them an ultimatum in my opinion.........and telling us basically that its his way<chinese> or nothing at all<maybe>.
either way i left it in full context for everyone to take away from it what they will.......... pxp actually went up? and this was at the philex annual shareholders meeting.......interesting stuff.
must read!!!
http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/top-news/29171-sovereignty-row-spoils-oil-ventures
Businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan said his group may no longer proceed with exploration and eventual drilling activities at a massive but disputed oil and gas find in offshore Palawan should the stakeholders fail to resolve sovereignty issues in the South China Sea.
Speaking to reporters after the annual stockholders’ meeting of Philex Mining Corp. on Wednesday, company chairman Pangilinan added that the biggest hindrance facing efforts to explore the gas field dubbed Service Contract 72 (SC 72) remains “political.”
“We can deal with the commercial issues, which are complex enough as is. But if you mix these with political issues…when you put your oil rig there and the Chinese don’t like it, you know what they will do,” he said.
“If the legal and commercial issues are not met to the satisfaction of Philex Petroleum and the government, we will not proceed,” Pangilinan added.
His group controls 70 percent of the SC 72 project through Forum Energy Plc., which is 64.45 percent owned by Pangilinan-led Philex Mining Corp. and its subsidiary Philex Petroleum Corp. Monte Oro Resources and Energy Inc., led by businessman Enrique Razon Jr., owns the remaining 30 percent of SC 72.
Pangilinan’s group is negotiating with China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), which it sought both for technical and political reasons. Pangilinan said the project is big enough for additional non-Chinese and non-Filipino partners to depoliticize the project.
SC 72 falls within the area of the South China Sea that China is claiming to be part of its territory.
It covers 880,000 hectares and is in the Recto Bank Basin off the Palawan coast. It is estimated to have between 8.79 trillion cubic feet and 16.61 trillion cubic feet of gas and between 117 million barrels and 416 million barrels of oil. International maps refer to Recto Bank as Reed Bank.
Philex Mining shares went up 1.04 percent to P24.25 each on Wednesday while Philex Petroleum rose 8.9 percent to P47 each.
Share
that was very well written.
I think you should honestly start a blog on the area and events........you do well in styling it your own way and summarizing current events in an opinionated yet informative way.
I think the scarborough/panatag shoal incidents were also to sway focus away from a deal as well....so nobody looks like they backed down from sc72 when they are actually meeting in the middle.
I really didnt want the chinese involved but i dont want to see the first exploratory well be delayed 3 years either......so if this is the compromise of taking a strange bedfellow/partner and giving ownership that way rather than a percentage to china outright for nothing.,,,.,,,,,then i can fully understand the taking of lesser evils.
its true, they never delivered on that gold mine they promised eveyone.....or maybe they sold us out under the table.....this is a penny stock with little regulation controled by a brotherhood of goons on the same board with intertwined companies.....billionaires but goons none-the-less
the thing is sc72 has gained international notariety with the US secratary of state and the US navy getting actively involved and making statements.......this is no longer just a story and its magnified so that selling out their shareholders will be more difficult this time around. I say we have a 50/50% shot at a multibagger and a 50% shot at nothing. Ive taken bigger gambles with worse odds.
yes, i think its very important that they stay on the same page......wouldnt want to see internal problems ontop of the chinese issues. they did mention it in the previous article posted yesterday but this was a bit more in depth and in better perspective.
http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/top-news/29037-razon-pushing-with-developing-huge-oil-find-in-offshore-palawan
BILLIONAIRE Enrique Razon Jr. remains bullish on natural resources as his group is proceeding with plans to develop its interests in a massive but disputed oil and gas find in offshore Palawan, otherwise known as Service Contract 72 (SC 72), while expressing his intent to increase his minority stake in listed Apex Mining and Co. Inc.
Razon owns these assets through unlisted Monte Oro Resources and Energy Inc., which he said will remain a private company mainly focused on oil exploration and mining.
Monte Oro has a 30-percent stake in SC 72, while the group of Manuel V. Pangilinan controls the remaining 70 percent through Forum Energy Plc., which is 64.45 percent owned by Pangilinan-led Philex Mining Corp. and its subsidiary Philex Petroleum Corp.
Razon said he remains “confident” on the prospects of SC 72, which was recently reported to have a larger-than-expected resource potential. He added that the area is not part of the territorial dispute with China, which is laying claim to most of resource-rich Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
“I am not worried because SC 72 is in the Philippines. Spratly [Islands] and Scarborough [Shoal] are in disputed waters,” Razon said, referring to areas that the Philippines and China are fighting over. “[SC 72] is well within Philippine waters.”
Pangilinan, however, said in a forum in Hong Kong last week that the SC 72 concession area is part of the so-called nine-dashed-line that China is claiming to be part of its territory.
Tensions could escalate after reports said a Chinese vessel rammed into a Philippine fishing boat off Pangasinan last week, killing at least one Filipino. The Chinese Embassy also on Monday said the report is yet to be verified.
Given the size of the project and the large amount of investment involved, Razon said Monte Oro will likely get partners of its own for SC 72. He added that his earlier statements published by the media that appeared to be criticizing Pangilinan’s talks with China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) have since been settled.
“I was just giving my comments. There is no issue right now,” Razon said. “Whether [Forum Energy’s] partners are Chinese, Japanese or American is okay with us. We are not participating in those talks anyway. Our plan is to maintain our 30-percent [stake].”
He said the main focus right now is starting the drilling program within SC 72. Razon, however, did not elaborate on the investment cost and schedule.
Pangilinan said also last week that talks are continuing with CNOOC while adding that his group may take additional non-Filipino and non-Chinese partners to help “depoliticize” the project. Forum Energy has until August next year to drill, earlier reports showed.
SC 72 covers 880,000 hectares and is in the Recto Bank Basin off the Palawan coast. It is estimated to have between 8.79 trillion cubic feet to 16.61 trillion cubic feet of gas and 117 million barrels to 416 million barrels of oil. International maps refer to Recto Bank as Reed Bank.
Razon said Monte Oro is interested in increasing its 5-percent stake in Apex Mining, which operates the Maco gold mine in Compostela Valley in Mindanao.
“If there is an opportunity, we will increase that stake,” he added. According to him, Monte Oro was not looking to take a controlling position in the company.
Other groups rumored to be interested in Apex Mining include Philex Mining, the Philippines’s biggest gold producer. Pangilinan, who sits as Philex chairman, declined also last week to comment on those rumors.
Apex reported a net income of P50 million in the first quarter, reversing losses in the same period last year, a previous disclosure showed. It delivered 52,993 tons of gold ore during the first quarter with a grade of 4.1 grams per ton. The mining firm also plans to expand production at the Maco mine, with a new facility to increase its milling capacity threefold by next year.
“Apex is a good opportunity that just came about. But I am not really focused on getting into the mining industry per se. I think there [have] been too [many] investments globally in mining already driven by China. So I am not looking to go into it in a big way,” Razon said.
He added that what makes Apex Mining attractive is that its mine has both gold and copper, giving the investment more “diversity.”
“Mining a single metal may not be so attractive. There is so much supply coming onstream,” Razon said.
Apart from mining and oil, he heads global ports operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. and casino developer Bloomberry Resorts Corp. He was named the third-richest Filipino by Forbes magazine, which estimated his net worth at $3.6 billion.
http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/top-news/29037-razon-pushing-with-developing-huge-oil-find-in-offshore-palawan
BILLIONAIRE Enrique Razon Jr. remains bullish on natural resources as his group is proceeding with plans to develop its interests in a massive but disputed oil and gas find in offshore Palawan, otherwise known as Service Contract 72 (SC 72), while expressing his intent to increase his minority stake in listed Apex Mining and Co. Inc.
Razon owns these assets through unlisted Monte Oro Resources and Energy Inc., which he said will remain a private company mainly focused on oil exploration and mining.
Monte Oro has a 30-percent stake in SC 72, while the group of Manuel V. Pangilinan controls the remaining 70 percent through Forum Energy Plc., which is 64.45 percent owned by Pangilinan-led Philex Mining Corp. and its subsidiary Philex Petroleum Corp.
Razon said he remains “confident” on the prospects of SC 72, which was recently reported to have a larger-than-expected resource potential. He added that the area is not part of the territorial dispute with China, which is laying claim to most of resource-rich Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
“I am not worried because SC 72 is in the Philippines. Spratly [Islands] and Scarborough [Shoal] are in disputed waters,” Razon said, referring to areas that the Philippines and China are fighting over. “[SC 72] is well within Philippine waters.”
Pangilinan, however, said in a forum in Hong Kong last week that the SC 72 concession area is part of the so-called nine-dashed-line that China is claiming to be part of its territory.
Tensions could escalate after reports said a Chinese vessel rammed into a Philippine fishing boat off Pangasinan last week, killing at least one Filipino. The Chinese Embassy also on Monday said the report is yet to be verified.
Given the size of the project and the large amount of investment involved, Razon said Monte Oro will likely get partners of its own for SC 72. He added that his earlier statements published by the media that appeared to be criticizing Pangilinan’s talks with China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) have since been settled.
“I was just giving my comments. There is no issue right now,” Razon said. “Whether [Forum Energy’s] partners are Chinese, Japanese or American is okay with us. We are not participating in those talks anyway. Our plan is to maintain our 30-percent [stake].”
He said the main focus right now is starting the drilling program within SC 72. Razon, however, did not elaborate on the investment cost and schedule.
Pangilinan said also last week that talks are continuing with CNOOC while adding that his group may take additional non-Filipino and non-Chinese partners to help “depoliticize” the project. Forum Energy has until August next year to drill, earlier reports showed.
SC 72 covers 880,000 hectares and is in the Recto Bank Basin off the Palawan coast. It is estimated to have between 8.79 trillion cubic feet to 16.61 trillion cubic feet of gas and 117 million barrels to 416 million barrels of oil. International maps refer to Recto Bank as Reed Bank.
Razon said Monte Oro is interested in increasing its 5-percent stake in Apex Mining, which operates the Maco gold mine in Compostela Valley in Mindanao.
“If there is an opportunity, we will increase that stake,” he added. According to him, Monte Oro was not looking to take a controlling position in the company.
Other groups rumored to be interested in Apex Mining include Philex Mining, the Philippines’s biggest gold producer. Pangilinan, who sits as Philex chairman, declined also last week to comment on those rumors.
Apex reported a net income of P50 million in the first quarter, reversing losses in the same period last year, a previous disclosure showed. It delivered 52,993 tons of gold ore during the first quarter with a grade of 4.1 grams per ton. The mining firm also plans to expand production at the Maco mine, with a new facility to increase its milling capacity threefold by next year.
“Apex is a good opportunity that just came about. But I am not really focused on getting into the mining industry per se. I think there [have] been too [many] investments globally in mining already driven by China. So I am not looking to go into it in a big way,” Razon said.
He added that what makes Apex Mining attractive is that its mine has both gold and copper, giving the investment more “diversity.”
“Mining a single metal may not be so attractive. There is so much supply coming onstream,” Razon said.
Apart from mining and oil, he heads global ports operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. and casino developer Bloomberry Resorts Corp. He was named the third-richest Filipino by Forbes magazine, which estimated his net worth at $3.6 billion.
Palace favors MVP-China oil exploration project in Spratlys
Written by Fernan J. Angeles
Tuesday, 26 June 2012 00:00
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Malacañang appears amenable to a mineral exploration project as a joint business venture with China on the Spratly Islands.
In an interview with Palace reporters who joined him in his Benguet sortie, the President Aquino expressed what seemed to be a concurrence with the plans of business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan to seal partnership with a Chinese company for oil exploration at Recto Bank in the disputed islands.
However, Aquino maintained that such a venture must be in conformity to the existing laws, rules and requirements of the Philippine government.
Pangilinan, who was listed by Forbes Magazine Asia among the wealthiest in the Philippines, said Philex Mining Corp., through its unit Forum Energy Plc., was close to sealing a partnership with China National Oil Corp. for a project that would see local and Chinese investors exploring and developing the gas-rich SC 72.
Pangilinan reportedly met with the Chinese officials in the middle of the brewing tension between Manila and China over portions of the West Philippine Sea where the gas field is located.
An independent study commissioned by Forum Energy placed the gross reserves at the Sampaguita gas field, which is covered by SC 72, at over 11 trillion cubic feet of gas. The volume is much larger than the Malampaya field’s 2.7-trillion cubic feet natural gas reserves.
The government, through the Department of Energy, said the Sampaguita field was capable of yielding a hundred years’ supply of gas to the Philippines, compared with Malampaya’s 25-year shelf life.
The consortium is set to start drilling activities this year.
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why would you feel more negative now when we are closer to drilling an exploratory well in sc72 than we have ever been in the 14 years of your holding? is it frustration ? i can relate more than anyone with my 950 k shares but at least recognize that despite all the hurdles we are closer than we were 1.5 years ago....with the seismogram we are getting offers/interest despite the pesky chinese.....and some of that interest is the chinese themselves as they are hedging against their own directionless strategy.
it might very well slip away as you say if the well is a bust like in nidof's case......or if the chinese dont let up and drilling rigs dont want to risk it, but we are closer not farther.
glta.
it is a positive sign that they<fep> are actively and persistently trying to find a solution to all of this,,,,,,,,,with or without cnooc this effort should be applauded.........something that could have easily tied us up for years with extended deadlines seems to be making fast headway finally.
There have been precedent where other service contracts were set asideand ignored from chinas bullying with viet nam so I naturally would worry of the same going forward. We are not out of the woods by far but we are definitely chopping the weeds down and making a trail.
I would like to see some positive buying in the stock price when favorable news like this is announced. The market doesnt seem to be interested until we succesfully "prove" the reserves with a succesfull drill attempt.
glta
understood,
question:
Can pangilinan who is in charge of so many boards go ahead and call the shots without the second largest shareholder?
Can china choose to ignore the contract that fep has with the philipines if it maintains that sc72 is chinese?
if they meet in the middle....does that mean that fep gets a smaller share as well as the Philipines?
Getting china involved could cause way more problems than solutions in my opinion........thats why they want a third party if that were to happen to show that this is a business deal not a government partner..... but doing business with china is always a communist governmental deal
i dont think you need to overthink it.
even some contracts dont hold up <basic is a recent example>,
let alone a few words between companies who need governmental approval first.
As far as chinas stature going forward, the scarborough shoal will be a good precursor and litmus test.....so far i'm not very optimistic with their attitude and persistence on it. Last I heard they are still there with their ships disregarding pi sovereignity.
before anyone has the gual to say i am just being negative without cause, I will always be truthful to myself on current events rather to blind myself with happy expectations. I still hold out some hope on China softening their stance as they slowly realize they are gambling on a well that may or may bot be viable/profitable and risking their already diminished reputation as a business ally.
well we get to have twice as much as galoc than we did yesterday, among the other potentials.....thats a big deal since galocs life span has been extended........but we only get to keep 25% of those revs until its paid off from its debt......25% of 2% <for now> is better 100% of 1% in this case only because we will revert to 100% of our 2% ownership in galoc when debts are paid off and that baby is producing for us very well.
if for some reason the deal doesnt sound good to them they can simply draw down on some cash and pay them off before the 30 days are up.....the interest might even be lower than the 12% contained in this deal.
glta