ARMM traders bullish on Tawi-Tawi natural gas, oil explorations

COTABATO CITY — Traders in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are confident that the offshore oil and gas explorations in Tawi-Tawi, which started early this month, will, if successful, boost government efforts to prop up the region’s cash-strapped economy.

ARMM Trade Secretary Ishak Mastura said that while the explorations are yet in their "infant stage," the region’s business community is certain they will have a positive impact on the economies of both Tawi-Tawi and Sulu, both component provinces of the autonomous region.

Mastura said Malacañang and the Department of Energy have allowed the Union Oil of California, Australian BHP Billiton Petroleum and Sandakan Oil to jointly explore oil and natural gas reserves off Mapun, a Tawi-Tawi island-town not far away from the Philippine-Malaysian border.

Mapun Island is inside the so-called Sandakan Basin, said to be rich in oil and natural gas. There have been explorations for almost four decades now in the Malaysian side of the Sandakan Basin.

Mastura, citing technical data, said the consortium now exploring the waters of Mapun has estimated, based on satellite imaging, a potential reserve of 500 billion barrels of oil in strategic spots off the island.

"Experts have also pegged at 1.5 trillion cubic feet the volume of natural gas there," he said.

Mastura said the ARMM business community is confident that the explorations in Mapun will lure foreign investors to the region.

"The project will somehow show that there is a fragile peace in Tawi-Tawi, otherwise no one from abroad would go there and search for deposits and natural gas," he said.

Mastura said ARMM Gov. Parouk Hussin has enlisted the help of local officials in Tawi-Tawi, which has 10 island-towns, to help ensure the safety of the companies involved in the explorations.

"Businessmen in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi are optimistic that peace and order in their provinces will also improve if (the explorations are successful)," he said.