Involve more nations in oil search, DoE urged

We don’t have the technical capability, and we don’t have the capital in terms of exploring largescale oil and gas

Despite the recently announced resumption of talks between the Philippines and China, the government may need to reach out to other countries for oil and gas exploration prospects, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said.

In a television interview, Gatchalian, vice chairman of the Senate energy panel, pointed out that the Philippines is still incapable of pursuing solo oil exploration activities due to a lack of capital, technical expertise, and manpower, among others.

“Realistically, we don’t have the technical capability, we don’t have the capital. Unfortunately, we also don’t have the manpower or the manpower know-how, in terms of exploring large scale oil and gas that’s why in the past, Chevron and Shell came in, they provided the technical expertise,” Gatchalian said.

“This is a highly technical project and you need decades of experience in terms of exploring deep well, deepwater oil and gas projects and we don’t have that. That’s why we need to partner with different countries, Europeans, Americans, and even China,” he added.

Follow law

The lawmaker also stressed that in any joint exploration, the local law should prevail to uphold “our exclusive economic zone and within our territorial waters.”

Last week, following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s first state visit of the year to China, the Department of Energy announced the resumption of discussion between the two countries over possible joint oil exploration in the West Philippine Sea.

However, Gatchalian argued that the current law governing oil exploration activities may not have enough teeth.

“It’s good that we are open to it. But when you go to the nitty gritty of things, especially the governing law that should prevail. I think we will hit a snag with that issue, and I think that the best case here or the best evidence will be what was discussed during the last administration,” he said.

We need to partner with different countries, Europeans, Americans, and even China.

“The West Philippine Sea is the most prolific when it comes to oil and gas and it’s in our interest to be energy secure. Therefore, we should explore the potential of the West Philippine Sea,” he added.

Apart from oil exploration talks, nine Chinese energy companies with about $13.76 billion worth of combined investments have pledged support to the development of renewable energy or RE in the country.

Energy Secretary Raphael Perpetuo Lotilla said the Chinese government’s support of the Philippines is vital in achieving the country’s goal of integrating 15 percent of RE into its total energy mix.

“We are pleased with the support that we received. (We) will be communicating with them, particularly in this cooperation between the Philippines and China. We also highlighted that to beat the 15 percent RE target, we need 52,000 MW of RE by 2040,” he added.