By Donnabelle gatdula
The Philippine Star
11 July 2008
The controversial joint marine seismic undertaking (JMSU) between the
Philippines, China and Vietnam has ended, according to Energy Secretary Angelo
Reyes.
"That JMSU has lapsed and has not been extended," Reyes told
reporters when asked about the status of the inter-agency meeting that is
supposed to be held to discuss the JMSU, which expired last July 1.
Reyes said the committee is studying the lapse and the full
ramifications of the agreement.
The Philippine government has created a special committee that will
recommend if the country should renew or extend the memorandum of understanding
(MOU) with China and Vietnam under a three-year JMSU.
The Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp., a gas and oil
exploration unit of the state-owned PNOC, had signed the MOU in July 2005 with
its counterparts in China and Vietnam.
PNOC-EC entered into a tripartite agreement with China National
Offshore Oil Corp. and PetroVietnam to explore a portion of the South China Sea,
including the disputed Spratly Islands, on March 14, 2005 but the project only
started on July 1, 2005.
In signing the agreement, the head of the PNOC then believed that
this could be a big step towards transforming a previous area of conflict into
an area of possible cooperation and mutual benefit.
Critics of the Arroyo administration said the JMSU undermines the
country’s sovereignty and violated the Constitution when foreigners,
particularly Chinese explorers, were allowed to conduct seismic tests in
Philippine territorial waters.
Then PNOC president Eduardo Mañalac said the agreement was designed
to be scientific in nature.
Based on the terms of the JMSU, the three countries will be allowed
to do exploratory work involving three activities such as data gathering,
processing, and interpretation.
Under the agreement, China was assigned to gather the seismic data
while Vietnam will process the information and the Philippines will conduct the
interpretation.
PNOC-EC, CNOOC and PetroVietnam started the second phase of the joint
study in December 2007, which will assess the petroleum potentials of certain
areas in the South China Sea.
The first phase of the seismic survey started on Sept. 1 and ended on
Nov. 16, 2005 with a total coverage of 11,021.65 line kilometers.
The Philippine government has pushed for the realization of the
agreement in the interest of building and maintaining peace, stability, security
and prosperity in the contested areas in the South China Sea.
PNOC president Antonio Cailao earlier said that the agreement with
China and Vietnam is not new to the company, citing that it had previously
engaged in similar contracts with foreign companies.
Sources said that in the last PNOC board meeting, the issue was not
discussed.
"On JMSU, that’s being held in abeyance. With the controversies, we
are not moving. We will just wait for the decision of the Energy Department and
the national government within this month," said PNOC-EC chairman Jacinto Paras.
The decision on whether to extend the JMSU is crucial especially for
Forum Energy PLC, which is optimistic that it could bag one contract in the
Sampaguita prospects in offshore Palawan once the tri-partite agreement
expires.
In a statement, Forum Energy chairman Alan Henderson also expressed
confidence that it could convert its geophysical survey and exploration contract
(GSEC) 101 into a Service Contract (SC) after the JMSU signed by the Philippines
with China and Vietnam is completed.
"Whilst the process of conversion has taken some time, the company is
informed, and believes, that a positive outcome will be reached in a relatively
short timeframe," Henderson said.
Forum Energy’s GSEC 101 contract has been under negotiation since May
2007 for conversion to an SC.
The existence of the JMSU apparently affected the application for conversion
of Forum Energy.
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