By GENALYN KABILING
THE Philippine government has forged a historic agreement with an Israeli company to search for oil and gas in the country to help ensure the nation’s energy security.
The Petroleum Service Contract (PSC) for the East Palawan Basin was signed by President Duterte and Itay Raphael Tabibzada, the president and chief executive officer of Israel-based Ratio Petrolum Ltd., during a closed-door ceremony in Malacañang last Wednesday.
Under the initial seven-year contract, Ratio Petroleum can explore Area 4 covering 416,000 hectares across the East Palawan Basin for potential oil and gas resources. The minimum expenditure costs US$34.3 million for studies, data gathering and drilling activities.
“This is the first petroleum service contract signed by the President under his administration,” Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said during a Palace press briefing.
“If you remember the President made statements that our country needs to attain energy security and sustainability at the soonest possible time,” he said.
Panelo said the government was hopeful that potential oil resources would be discovered under the Philippine-Israeli undertaking.
“Ang nagiging problema natin kasi wala tayong oil kaya hirap na hirap na tayo if we are compared to others that have oil. We’ve been dependent on oil producing counties for our oil so we need to boost the exploration and development of our own energy resources,” he said.
“Hopefully magkakaroon tayo ng oil. Makakita tayo ng oil and it will definitely help our country,” he added.
