Medco eyeing geothermal exploration in Philippines

PT Medco Geothermal Indonesia, a subsidiary of the country's largest publicly-listed oil company PT Medco Energy Internasional, says it is exploring a business opportunity in the Philippines.

Medco Geothermal Indonesia president director S.J. Aries Pardjimanto said Philippine President Benigno Aquino III had specially invited the Jakarta-based company to attend a breakfast meeting in Manila, along with some other geothermal companies from other countries.

“This is an honor to us,” Aries said Tuesday in Jakarta, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He added that Medco Geothermal had also received an invitation for The World Geothermal Energy Summit 2011 in Manila, from Dec. 7 to 9.

Aries further said he was seeking to meet representatives of Philippines-based energy firm Petroenergy Resources Corp. to discuss possible partnerships in geothermal exploration, including one in Ijen, East Java, which was estimated to cost about US$35 million.

Aries said Indonesia should follow the Philippines’ example, which had declared its aim of becoming the world's largest geothermal producer.

“It's ironic, given that our geothermal reserves are much bigger than the Philippines',” he added.

Indonesia is said to have the world's largest geothermal reserves, which can generate up to 29,000 megawatts of electricity. Thus far, however, only 1,189 megawatts have been reportedly produced.