MANILA, Philippines — The “code of conduct” on South China Sea between Southeast Asian countries and China could finally spark some development in the oil and gas prospects located in the disputed waters, businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan said.
While the private sector is not privy to the discussions on the government level, Pangilinan said on the sidelines of the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit Tuesday he remains optimistic something will come out from the negotiations.
“It’s best to wait for the statements both governments will issue based on the visit of the (Chinese) Prime Minister,” he said. “We’re quite optimistic that something could happen, but that’s entirely out of our control.”
The leaders of Southeast Asian countries and China have agreed to start negotiations on a “code of conduct” aimed at controlling aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea, where a statement will be issued after the meeting.
China has opposed a legally binding code, and Southeast Asian diplomats said even ASEAN is not unanimous in seeking a binding set of rules.
Pangilinan said investors holding oil and gas contracts in the disputed waters have not started any exploration and drilling works since 2014 after the government suspended all activities in the area.
He said it’s about time the gas quantities available in those contracts be established.
“We’d like to proceed, just purely from our perspective to finalize our survey work, to do exploratory wells and to determine once and for all that there’s gas in the concession. And if there’s gas, is it of commercial quantity especially in today’s fuel prices,” Pangilinan said.
The DOE issued a moratorium on all exploration and drilling works in Service Contract (SC) 72 and SC 75 in December 2014 and 2015, respectively, amid the rising maritime tension with China.
Last August, Pangilinan said the Philippine government should start making its decision to lift the moratorium on oil and gas exploration contracts in Recto Bank.
This should be done ahead of the projected depletion of Malampaya gas project in 2024.
In May, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the Philippines is strategizing how to go about the joint oil and gas exploration in disputed seas after President Duterte held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping to allow Filipinos to fish in the area.
Cusi said the moratorium stays until the territorial dispute is completely ironed out. The Department of Foreign Affairs is the lead agency negotiating with China.