Malaysian firm eyes jatropha deal in RP

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http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view_article.php?article_id=50168

Malaysian firm eyes jatropha deal in RP

Joint venture with PNOC unit seen ready by midyear
By Abigail L. Ho
Inquirer
Last updated 06:44pm (Mla time) 02/18/2007

MALAYSIAN firm Biogreen Energy Sdn Bhd is preparing to sign an agreement
with PNOC Alternative Fuels Corp. (PNOC-AFC) on the establishment of a
jatropha nursery and plantation in two different locations in the country.

In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Biogreen director
Wong Chee Meng said the memorandum of understanding between his company
and PNOC-AFC had already been drafted after four to six months of
discussions.

The MOU should be signed some time within this month, he said.

Should the signing push through, he said contract detailing would start
by March and would take around one or two months.

Details to be discussed would include the land that would be used for
the planned seedling nurseries and jatropha plantations, seedling
supply, crude oil processing for both local consumption and export, and
biodiesel pricing, he said.

Under the MOU, he said Biogreen should be able to produce about 30
million seedlings within two years in each of the two locations that
would be agreed upon by the two parties.

This should be enough to supply seedlings for PNOC-AFC's planned 700,000
hectares of jatropha plantations all over the country.

"The Philippines is an important site for us. We've already conducted a
feasibility study in cooperation with PNOC-AFC, and there is so much
potential here. The competitiveness of the Philippines is there," he
said. "We're looking at (Asia as a whole) because we believe that the
oil it can produce will greatly help its economy."

He said Biogreen and PNOC-AFC should finalize their contract within the
first half and start implementing it within 2007.

The establishment of a biodiesel refinery was also on the drawing board,
he said, although it was not part of current negotiations between
Biogreen and PNOC-AFC.

In an earlier interview, PNOC-AFC president Peter Anthony Abaya said
that apart from Biogreen, among those interested in undertaking
biodiesel-related projects were Korea's Samsung Corp., Japan's Sumitomo
Corp. and JGC, the US' National Biofuels, Malaysia's HDZ, and Brunei
National Petroleum Co.

Local firms Chemrez Technologies Inc., Limketkai Manufacturing Co.,
Enerfuse (composed of new oil players Flying V, Unioil Petroleum
Philippines Inc., Seaoil Philippines Inc. and Eastern Petroleum Corp.),
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Petron Corp. are also considering
biodiesel projects.

He said National Biofuels was looking at two 200,000-metric ton (MT)
refineries, HDZ, two refineries, PetroleumBrunei, one biodiesel plant,
Chemrez, one refinery on its own and one in partnership with PNOC-AFC,
and Limketkai, one 100,000-MT plant.

Limketkai, an edible oil producer, was actually considering giving up
its current business to shift to producing biodiesel from jatropha, he said.

PNOC-AFC had already signed a memorandum of understanding with Samsung
for an P8.2-billion jatropha plantation and refinery project. It also
disclosed that Sumitomo had agreed to conduct a feasibility study on the
establishment of a biofuels central terminal in Bataan.

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