Solon calls for inquiry on potentially oil-rich Benham Rise

MANILA, Philipppines – A lawmaker is looking at the possibility of oil exploration in Benham Rise, an undersea region and extinct volcanic ridge in the Philippine continental shelf.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez authored House Resolution 1696 which seeks to ease the country's energy requirements and oil dependence.

Rodriguez called for an inquiry of the Benham Rise or Benham Plateau, a 13-million hectare area at the eastern coast of Aurora province. He added that the National Mapping Resources Information Agency confirmed the presence of gas deposits in the Philippines.

"There is a need to look into this and determine what the government, particularly the DENR and the Department of Energy, is doing in order to confirm the reports on the huge gas deposits in the area and how said deposits could be utilized by the country," the Cagayan de Oro solon said.

Rodriguez said the area is a massive formation of basalt, a common volcanic rock, and is described in a study as a thickened portion of the Philippine sea plate's oceanic crust.

The 1982 United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Sea provides that the Benham Rise is not subject to any maritime boundary disputes and claims since it lies within the country's territory.

In 2012, the UN confirmed that the said landmass is part of the Philippines' continental shelf, according to Rodriguez.

Last May, Filipino scientists started to map the area.

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