The Department of Energy (DOE) needs greater clarity on the effects of a Supreme Court decision invalidating as unconstitutional the joint marine seismic undertaking (JMSU) it signed with Vietnam and China as this relates to a particular exploration area in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines, as represented by the Philippine National Oil Company, signed the JMSU on March 14, 2005 along with China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation.
The DOE said the Supreme Court ruling affects the future of the country’s oil and gas exploration, especially when help is offered by “friendly countries.”
“Does it mean, for example, that the Philippines cannot enter into an agreement with a friendly country for further exploration in different parts of the country? I don’t want to foreclose that particular interpretation,” Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said at the sidelines of the Water Philippines and PhilEnergy event in Pasay City on Thursday.
Lotilla said a clarification is needed as the Philippines “also entered into international agreements with Australia and Norway where they assisted the Philippines in exploring areas” in the past.
He argued that as the Philippines is a vastly underexplored country in terms of gas and oil exploration, every effort to explore that potential is crucial.
DOE earlier said it sought the Office of the Solicitor General’s guidance on the issue.
