The move to discover commercially viable oil deposits as indigenous stash of energy in the country in the seas off Bohol is in government commitments, and the Department of Energy (DOE) has recently signed at least six petroleum service contracts and $94M minimum financial resources has been committed to foreign and local petroleum companies, part of which is it to finance eastern Visayas oil projects.
The contract involves the development and exploration of oil and gas resources in the East-West Visayan Basin, west and northeast Palawan, Mindoro-Cuyo Basin, Pita-San Jose Cagayan Valley and Sulu Sea, the government said.
The Consortium of Alcorn Gold Resources Corp, Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp., and Petro-Energy Resources Corporation got the East-West Visayan Basin covering 440,000 hectares of exploratory grounds.
This however is within Bohol’s most revered marine amazon, of which scientific surveys show a highly diverse seascape many times better that the Mediterranean.
Environmentalists who have their noses poked into the exploration projects fear that the seismographic testing may leave ruined patches of pristine coral beds.
This week, newspaper reports that the seismic testing is set within the month. This is over a fact that local government environment authorities here admit they were not advised of the development.
In a chance interview, Nestor Canda, Environment Management Bureau Chief of the local Department of Environment and Natural Resources here said it was him who told regional environment authorities about the news which he read over the papers.
He also admitted that the arrangements were done in the national level and that the exploration consortium accordingly has acquired a Certificate of Non Coverage on the project.
Environmentalists here wanted that the consortium could get an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) so the DENR can monitor compliance on the provisions. This view was also shared by Atty. Doni Piquero of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center, an environmental NGO here.
Sharing the exploration rights after the signing of the $94M contracts are: the Consortium of Australia, BHB Billiton Petroleum Pty Ltd., Amerada Hess Ltd., Unocal Sulu Ltd. and Sandakan Oil OIL ll Ltd was confirmed the latest awarded contract for oil and gas exploration over offshore Sulu covering 8620 hectares.
E.F. Durkee and Associates got the Piat-San Jose Northern Cagayan Valley Contract covering 96,000 hectares.
India Laxmi Organization got the 600,000 hectares off Mindoro Cuyo Basin.
Nido Petroleum Philippines Ltd. was also awarded the service contract in Nortwest Palawan covering 537, 616 hectares.
The Ottoman Energy Ltd, Australasia Energy Ltd and the Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corporation got the Western Palawan in a contract covering 900,000 hectares.
Meanwhile, four other contracts were given to a joint venture of Petronas Carigali and the Philippine National Oil Corporation Exploration Corporation over offshore Mindoro; Aragorn Power Corporation in the Cagayan Basin; Phil-Mal-PetroEnergy Corporation in Southern Cebu and Ottoman Energy Ltd. in Northwest Palawan Basin.
DOE Secretary Rafael Lotilla said the government had high hopes that the six contracts which covers a period of seven years would be able to discover large oil and gas fields of commercial quantity.
If found to be commercially viable, then the government again will have to either bid for oil mining operations, move that could come in another million dollar oil mining contract.
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