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MANILA, Philippines - Tensions in the West Philippine Sea is not stopping investors from exploring the area for oil and gas, the Department of Energy (DOE) said on Thursday.
âWe have not received any expression of concern about what has happened. Besides, again, the Philippines, the [Department of Foreign Affairs] and the President himself have categorically stated that the areas we have offered are all within Philippine territory, no doubt about that," Undersecretary Jose M. Layug Jr. said.
âWell, they can contest. But again, as far as the Philippine government is concerned - [Areas]Â 3 and 4 - they are located about 30 to 40 kilometers from Palawan, so there is no doubt about it. Even if we use international law, UNCLOS, it is definitely well within the 200 nautical mile exclusive zone of the Philippines," he said.
UNCLOS refers to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas.
At end-March, 41 companies were applying for prequalification, with the DOE accepting 37.
âWe are just awaiting for documents to qualify them. So far, we have not received any information or of any concerns raised by prequalified parties. So yes, we are proceeding with our energy contracting round,â Layug said.
None of the 37 has indicated which areas they will bid for, but Layug said the bids for Areas 3, 4 and 5 are due on July 31 while the rest would be open for bidding on April 27.
Among those that have prequalified are Total of France, ENI of Italy , Royal Dutch Shell, Repsol of Spain and an Autralian exploration firm that Layug failed to identify.
âSo far, we have not seen any Chinese companies. But you know, it doesn't prevent them from what we call farming in. When we award to a winning bidder, usually parties farm in the contract. In other words, they participate after the award so they are very much welcome to join,â the official said.
Winning bidders would have seven years to conduct exploration, extendable for another three years. The service contracts have an initial term of 25 years, extendable to another 25 years.
Layug said it is âvery likelyâ that the actual exploration can start as early as September depending on how fast Malacanang can evaluate the recommendation for these contracts.
Manila is standing its ground regarding the contested Scarborough shoal and is looking at other avenues where it can raise the issue of its territorial dispute with Beijing.
Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said the government is providing more security in areas where exploration projects exist.
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