Duterte to allow PH oil exploration with Chinese, Malaysian firms: DOE

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to sign a contract allowing the Philippines to undertake oil exploration off the waters of Palawan with Chinese and Malaysian firms, the country's energy secretary said Wednesday.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the area for exploration, called Service Contract (SC) 57, lies within Philippine territory and is not in the disputed area of the West Philippine Sea.

"We have SC 57 that is already with the Office of the President so that we can pursue its exploration work," Cusi said on the sidelines of the 35th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting held in Manila.

Cusi said the government is studying lifting the moratorium order on oil exploration in the West Philippine Sea.

The development of SC 57 will be undertaken by the Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC), China National Offshore Oil Company, and Mitra Energy Limited of Malaysia.

Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Donato Marcos stressed there is no sovereignty issue involved in SC 57 as it is not in a disputed part of the West Philippine Sea

"It's not a joint exploration actually because it's a current service contracted granted by DOE to PNOC-EC, and it's a 100-hundred percent owned by PNOC-EC," Marcos said.

Cusi also said that Philippine and Chinese energy officials will hold a bilateral meeting on Thursday where the topic of joint development could be discussed.