PNOC-EC: Gov’t needs to hold ground in WPS

November 24, 2020 03:30 AM By Maria Romero
https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2020/11/24/pnoc-ec-govt-needs-to-hold-ground-in-wps/

The Philippine government needs to hold its ground in the disputed West Philippine Sea (WPS) or else it loses the chance to pursue its energy independence agenda.

This was learned from Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC) president and CEO Rozzano D. Briguez, who said international discussions should be settled as soon as possible since oil and gas exploration activities in the WPS have resumed last October.

“We have a slight issue which sometimes we don’t dare to tackle — it’s the strategic issue we have in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.

“We call that the ‘Sea of Cooperation’ because that’s what we tap to extract the indigenous sources that we have,” Briguez said in a forum headed by the Philippine Energy Independence Council and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.

Beneficial to country
He noted that “tapping the West Philippine Sea is beneficial to our country,” especially that the power sources in the Malampaya natural gas project are anticipated to decline in the coming years amid spiking demand.

According to the Department of Energy (DoE), the lifting of the moratorium on the exploration activities in the WPS could rake in an initial investment of $25 million by service contractors.

Apart from that, a total of $78 million worth of remaining minimum investments from the service contractors could also be raised.

The latest data from the DoE showed that there are about 6,048 million barrels of oil (MMBO) and 7,108 billion cubic feet of natural gas (BCF) of undiscovered resources in the WPS.

This is on top of the 155 MMBO and 5,050 BCF already discovered before the enforcement of force majeure during the Aquino administration.

Underscoring the crucial role that the energy sector plays in the promotion of sustainability and socio-economic development, Briguez said the government needs to accelerate the development of new energy supply.

Marketable drilling
He likewise reiterated that the government should support the study of the country’s sedimentary basins.

“We have to ensure that sedimentary basins are well studied. It’s part of the plan because don’t study our 16 basins that much… This is what we have to do to entice more investors in the energy sector,” Briguez said.

State-run PNOC-EC, along with the DoE and the University of the Philippines, is currently conducting an extensive study to make the country’s 16 sedimentary basins marketable for oil and gas exploration.

The geophysical and geological study on the country’s 16 sedimentary basins aims to attract new investments to boost exploration in the development of hydrocarbon resources.