PNOC-EC eyes exploration works in Liguasan Marsh

MANILA, Philippines — State-run Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) has expressed interest in exploring the Liguasan Marsh.

“We are very interested in this,” PNOC-EC president and CEO Rozzano Briguez said in a forum last week.

Briguez, however, said the company would wait for the policies of the national government through the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

“We will start with Sultan Kudarat’s portion of the Liguasan Marsh first and then let the policies on BARMM and DOE (government) be sorted out before we will eventually explore the area,” Briguez said in a text message.

He said the state-run firm is willing to partner with companies to explore the untapped oil and gas resources in the area.

“We continue to have studies and dual partnership with the academe and some of our proponents in order to undertake onshore development and using the newer methods and technologies so we can reduce our negative impact to the environment,” Briguez said.

This is to help the country boost exploration activities, which has declined in the past decade.

The DOE had said the country has only drilled an average of five wells in a 10-year period compared with the double- and triple-digit averages of other peer countries in Southeast Asia.

To push for exploration, PNOC-EC has partnered with the University of the Philippines (UP) and the DOE to do extensive studies on new oil and gas resources in the country’s sedimentary basins.

“Right now, we are really pursuing with UP and DOE to have an extensive study of our sedimentary basins to make our area more attractive to foreign investors,” Briguez said earlier.

The Liguasan Marsh covers 2,200 hectares spanning the provinces of Cotabato, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat, of which 300 square kilometers are classified as protected wetland and bird sanctuary.

It is said to have billions of cubic feet of gas and is rich in oil deposits.

In 2018, President Duterte said the government would not claim the untapped oil and gas reserves in Maguindanao as it belongs to the Moro people.

Under the Petroleum Act of 1949, the government has a share of 60 percent in royalties from extraction activities.

A year later, the President reiterated that the Moro people could exploit the resources in the region under the Bangsamoro Organic Law, including the Liguasan Marsh.

The Liguasan Marsh was excluded in DOE’s Philippine Energy Contracting Round held in 2012 since it was declared as a protected area.

In 1979, about 30,000 hectares of the marsh was declared a Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary, with an inventory carried out to ensure the preservation of wildlife and aquatic resources.