Bush eyes RP’s oil, natural gas prospects

Texas oilman that he is, US President George W. Bush is sending his energy chief to look into joint exploration ventures for oil and natural gas in the Philippines, Energy Secretary Vicente Perez said yesterday.

"President Bush, who is an oilman from midland Texas, got interested in our oil and gas explorations," Perez told The STAR in an exclusive interview.

Bush expressed keen interest in oil and natural gas exploration prospects in the country during his expanded bilateral meeting with President Arroyo last Saturday at Malacañang, he said.

Perez said Bush informed Mrs. Arroyo that he will send US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham in the first week of December to look into joint ventures to explore offshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Sulu and South China seas.

Perez, who was among the few Cabinet officials included in the expanded bilateral meeting, has apparently impressed Bush with his report on the status of the Philippine natural gas regulatory framework that the Department of Energy (DOE) put out recently with the assistance of the US Agency for International Development.

He told Bush that the Philippine framework was based on the natural gas framework of the Public Utilities Commission of Texas.

"I updated him about our investment promotion on the Philippine Contracting Round which we had last August when we were offering 46 blocks in the South China Sea and Sulu Sea offshore oil and gas exploration," Perez said.

Perez hopes the bidding for these blocks will be finally announced by March next year.

He noted that Bush’s knowledge of the oil industry showed when he asked if "seismic surveys" had been taken on the offshore oil and gas reserves in these areas.

"And I suggested that we should have three-dimensional seismic surveys because a lot of American companies have expressed interest (in) this," he said.

Perez said recent surveys done by the DOE show that the Philippines may have as much as eight billion barrels of potential oil and natural gas reserves primarily on the offshore areas, including those in the existing Malampaya natural gas reserves in Palawan.

He said Bush "was hoping" Abraham will bring along representatives from five of America’s leading oil and gas exploration firms that had expressed "interest" in a possible joint venture — Hunt Oil, Amareda, Hess, Marathon Oil and Unocal.

Perez added that Bush also inquired about how much of the Philippines’ imported crude oil is brought in from the Middle East.

"I told him that we have lessened our oil dependence by diversifying and buying some of our crude oil from Russia," he said.

Perez admitted that he has a personal attachment to Bush, who was Texas governor when he was living in the US lone-star state with his American wife. He said that during Mrs. Arroyo’s state visit to the US last May 19, Bush even introduced him to his wife, First Lady Laura Bush, as their "neighbor" in Austin.

Perez, during the state dinner for Bush Saturday night at Malacañang, wore Texan boots and a belt with a "long horn" buckle with his black tuxedo. — Marichu Villanueva