The exploration company of Philex Mining Corp. plans to initiate talks with the Foreign Affairs and Energy Departments following reports of a possible joint exploration between the Philippines and China in the disputed West Philippine Sea.
Philex’s unit PXP Energy Corp. controls Forum Energy plc, which holds a 70 percent stake in service contract 72 that covers the Recto Bank. Recto Bank could hold more reserves than the Malampaya gas project in northwest Palawan.
“Yes, we have to initiate that but we would need a signal from government that not only will they approve it, that we can send our survey vessel and after that an oil rig to explore wells. We don’t want to be in the middle of geopolitical issue,” Philex chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.
Pangilinan said the latest pronouncements of the Philippines and China was a positive development for the country’s oil and gas industry.
“I think it’s about time for us to engage the government, particularly (Foreign Affairs) Secretary (Alan Peter) Cayetano, whether we could actually get the government to permit us to restart the works that were postponed. We should be doing that because all the pronouncements that appear to have been made by China and Philippines are moving towards a positive direction,” Pangilinan said.
He said the Philippines should give assurance PXP could pursue exploratory drilling.
Pangilinan was previously in talks with China National Offshore Oil Corp., China’s state-owned company, in the hopes of diffusing tensions with China over the West Philippine Sea dispute.
“The JV will likely be a Chinese company like CNOOC. I’m not sure if a non-Chinese company, at least in the beginning, will be involved because its in the middle of a geopolitical issue between Philippine and China,” he said.
“I think we should try to determine whether there’s gas or not. If it’s true that Malampaya start running out in 2024, we can’t afford to have three gas plants stranded in Batangas,” he said.