By Myrna M.Velasco

The propounded joint exploration deal for petroleum resources within the “conflict areas” in the West Philippine Sea will not be limited to Chinese investors, but is also applicable to other Southeast Asian neighbors and other foreign firms, the Department of Energy (DOE) assured.

“For the West Philippine Sea, because this is not something as a government-to-government deal, it is the private investors that are proposing, so this could be a Chinese national or other foreign nationalities,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said.

He explained that the joint exploration deal being firmed up with China just delves with prospective business collaboration that the Philippines will have with Beijing when it comes to search for oil and gas resources in the so-called conflict areas in the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea.

“The joint cooperation is only between Philippines and China on how to develop ways – how we can work together to explore the resources in the area… and we don’t have that yet with other nationalities,” the energy chief said.

Cusi added other than China, “we’re talking with our neighbors because there are also certain overlapping areas like Vietnam and the Philippines, but we are talking to them separately.”

The policy for both the non-disputed areas, such as those covered by the 14 pre-determined areas under the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP); and that of the “disputed territories” will be the same when it comes to entry of interested foreign investors.

Cusi averred “in the pre-determined areas, we’re not limiting it to nationalities but it depends on the investors, so it’s the same in West Philippine Sea,” the area tagged to have the plinth of the disputed territories.

Energy Undersecretary Donato D. Marcos indicated that a number of investors already submitted proposals to explore in the diplomatically encumbered West Philippine Sea.

But he qualified these applications for oil exploration cannot be acted upon until such time that the country can institutionalize an acceptable joint framework with China – and the target for that is next year.

“Actually, there are some investors who nominated for blocks within the West Philippine Sea, but we have not acted upon these. We need first the result of the discussion between the Department of Foreign Affairs, DOE and other collaboration agencies with that of China,” Marcos stressed.

He said there are now less than 10 nominations in the “conflict areas,” “but we will not grant them yet, we’re still not looking in that direction.”

Most of the applications, he emphasized, are for petroleum blocks proximate to the Reed Bank and those straddling south Palawan basin.