THE Department of Energy (DoE) has declined PXP Energy Corp.’s unsolicited proposal to assume the operations of the $4.5-billion Malampaya gas field off Palawan, an agency official said on Monday.

In a briefing on the 2019 National Energy Consciousness Month at the DoE headquarters in Taguig City, Energy Secretary Leonido Pulido 3rd told reporters that the agency had to deny the proposal — which PXP Energy submitted last month — because it was “over an area with an existing service contract.”